Senate Committee Rejects Republican Amendments to Restrict Abortion Coverage

CNN: Senate panel rejects GOP bid to strengthen abortion provision:

Republican amendments that Democrats said would broaden current restrictions on federal funding for abortion were defeated Wednesday by a Senate committee considering the only compromise health care bill so far.

By identical 13-10 votes, the Senate Finance Committee defeated the amendments by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

In both votes, all but one Democrat on the panel, Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, voted against the amendments. All Republicans except for Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the only women among the GOP committee members, supported them.