The Congressional Quarterly ran a story on the Children’s Health Insurance Program battle a couple days ago, indicating that House Democrats will likely support a scaled-back version of the bill they passed. While they are reportedly “grumbling” about the changes required by the Senate – they seem likely to go along.

Ways Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) is quoted as saying, “I’m very unhappy. It’s not even a compromise. It’s their way or the highway,” referring to the Senate.

Leading liberals are unhappy – despite the fact that the program they will soon pass brings a $35 billion expansion of the program; new income guidelines will allow children in families with incomes as high as $80,000 to get benefits. And the new appropriation bill still includes language which will prohibit benefits going to preborn children – and opening the way for CHIP monies to be used to pay for abortions in some 17 states with state-funded abortion programs.

President Bush told the nation at his news conference yesterday that he will veto the bill.

He called the expansion unacceptable, and a major step toward socialized medicine.

The President did not reference the abortion issue as part of his rationale. And that’s too bad – because America needs to better understand what the Democrats in Congress are up to. Still, we can be certain that part of the President’s veto commitment involves the issue of preborn children. After all, his innovative leadership first created the option of providing benefits to preborn children through Executive Order – and the language of this Democrat bill is obviously meant to be a rebuke to the President’s pro-Life policies.

It is difficult to see how preborn coverage will survive the Democrat’s attack – but we need to be in prayer. This benefit is one of the most important strategies available to saving preborn children while we suffer under the Roe regime.