Millions of American women will face tough choices about abortion coverage if restrictions in the House health care bill become law, both sides in the abortion debate agree.

WASHINGTON - Senate majority leader Harry Reid unveiled his long-awaited version of a sweeping health care bill last night, setting the stage for a tense Senate showdown pitting Republicans against a fragile and fractured Democratic majority. The proposal would expand coverage to most Americans and is predicted to cut the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years, a benefit Senate leaders hoped would help it attract fiscally conservative moderates who will decide the bill's fate. It also includes a so-called public option, a government-backed insurance plan in states that want one, a concession to liberals. With President Obama calling for a bill to be sent to his desk by the end of the year, Reid is hoping to bring the historic health care package up for a test vote on Saturday. Aides to Reid said he hoped to have the 60 votes required to begin the unpredictable floor debate, which could last weeks. The handful of moderate senators who will decide the question seemed likely to support ope

WASHINGTON - Senate majority leader Harry Reid unveiled his long-awaited version of a sweeping health care bill last night, setting the stage for a tense Senate showdown pitting Republicans against a fragile and fractured Democratic majority. The proposal would expand coverage to most Americans and is predicted to cut the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years, a benefit Senate leaders hoped would help it attract fiscally conservative moderates who will decide the bill's fate. It also includes a so-called public option, a government-backed insurance plan in states that want one, a concession to liberals. With President Obama calling for a bill to be sent to his desk by the end of the year, Reid is hoping to bring the historic health care package up for a test vote on Saturday. Aides to Reid said he hoped to have the 60 votes required to begin the unpredictable floor debate, which could last weeks. The handful of moderate senators who will decide the question seemed likely to support ope

THE DIVIDE: Can Senate live with strict language in the House bill?. WASHINGTON As the health care debate morphs momentarily into an argument over whether federal money should be used for abortion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reids every move is being watched.

Feds award $2.7 million for carbon capture project at Wolverine Power's proposed coal plant. An electric power co-op that wants to build a coal-fired plant in northern Michigan has received a $2.7 million federal grant for a project designed to prevent industrial carbon dioxide from contributing to climate change, officials said Tuesday.

Senate funds foot-and-mouth research lab in Kansas while calling for study on its safety. The Senate approved $32 million Tuesday for a planned foot-and-mouth disease research lab in Kansas, while ordering more study on the lab's safety.

Abortion proving to be major hurdle as House Democrats try to shape health care overhaul bill. House Democrats are at an impasse over whether their remake of the nation's health care system would effectively allow federal funding of abortion.

House Democrats are at an impasse over whether their remake of the nation's health care system would effectively allow federal funding of abortion.

Abortion proving to be major hurdle as House Democrats try to shape health care overhaul bill. House Democrats are at an impasse over whether their remake of the nation's health care system would effectively allow federal funding of abortion.

WASHINGTON - A day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would put a public option into the health care bill he sends to the floor, it was clear he had not yet found consensus on the legislation's most divisive issue. By proposing to establish a national public insurance plan and give states the option to withdraw from it, Reid may have revived momentum for liberals' top health care agenda item. But yesterday he was still working on getting the 60 votes he needs to pass it over an expected Republican filibuster. Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said he would vote with Republicans to block final passage of a bill containing a public insurance option, even with an opt-out provision, because it would ``create a whole new federal government entitlement program for which taxpayers will eventually be on the line, and at a time when taxpayers are deep enough on the line and our national government is in the biggest debt it's ev

WASHINGTON - The sweeping health care overhaul package before Congress is under an 11th-hour attack over a pair of emotional issues, abortion and immigration, that are complicating Democrats' efforts to piece together the coalition they need to pass the bill. Veteran lawmakers said they were confident they could add wording to ease the worries of colleagues and interest groups who believe - Democratic leaders say without justification - that taxpayers will be forced to fund abortions and illegal immigrants' health care. But with the House scheduled to vote on the health care package tomorrow, members of Congress are being inundated with complaints from constituents about hot-button social issues the lawmakers say are not even related to a bill that will affect one-sixth of the nation's economy. Thousands of protesters, many of them carrying signs against abortion or illegal immigrant health care coverage, gathered at the Capitol yesterday demanding that Congress ``kill the bill,'' and

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives scrambled on Wednesday to iron out lingering concerns over abortion in a healthcare reform bill that was headed to a close and potentially historic weekend debate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives scrambled on Wednesday to iron out lingering concerns over abortion in a healthcare reform bill that was headed to a close and potentially historic weekend debate.

House Democrats have cleared an impasse over abortion that has been holding up a vote on sweeping health care legislation.

House Democrats have cleared an impasse over abortion that has been holding up a vote on sweeping health care legislation.

House Democrats clear impasse over abortion holding up vote on health care legislation. House Democrats have cleared an impasse over abortion that has been holding up a vote on sweeping health care legislation.

Capping months of months of struggle, House Democrats cleared an abortion-related impasse blocking a vote on sweeping health care legislation late Friday and officials expressed optimism they had finally lined up the support needed to pass President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Capping months of months of struggle, House Democrats cleared an abortion-related impasse blocking a vote on sweeping health care legislation late Friday and officials expressed optimism they had finally lined up the support needed to pass President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Capping months of months of struggle, House Democrats cleared an abortion-related impasse blocking a vote on sweeping health care legislation late Friday and officials expressed optimism they had finally lined up the support needed to pass President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Capping months of struggle, House Democrats cleared an abortion-related impasse blocking a vote on sweeping health care legislation late Friday and officials expressed optimism they had lined up the support needed to pass President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.