WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |Rep. Davis unconvinced with healthcare bill

Rep. Davis unconvinced with healthcare bill

Posted by: John Shryock - bio | email

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Many members of Congress think President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plan is not specific enough for their liking, and some of those concerns are coming from members of his own party.

Alabama Congressman Artur Davis (D-Birmingham) is among those not sold yet on the reform proposals. 

Davis was quick to say that the confusion over the specifics is not limited to Washington. Everywhere he goes in his district people are asking him to tell them what changes, whether good or bad, the reform package would bring.

Government funded abortions

Some opponents believe the president's reform bill might open the door to government funded abortions, something Davis says he's strongly against. "Abortion is too polarizing and too decisive a topic for it to weight down the healthcare debate..." he said. He went on to add that if individuals want to spend their own money to obtain an abortion, he believes they have a right to do so.

Earlier in the week Davis and five other democrats in congress sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi asking that it be made clear that any subsidies from the healthcare reform not go towards the controversial practice. "I think it's a way frankly to build support for this legislation which doesn't have the votes to pass right now..." he explained.

Lack of clarity

Rep. Artur Davis has been quoted as saying the case hasn't been made for President Obama's healthcare plan, a lack of clarity on specific issues within the plan. Davis says the plan can't pass, "and more importantly, should not pass without there being a more definitive sense on the part of the American people of what this legislation means."

The representative says even people in his own district aren't sure what's in the more than 600 page bill. "They here a lot of 'D.C talk'...they want to know if they're gonna have coverage when they get sick...and if they have coverage, they wanna know if they're gonna get to keep it." Davis is convinced that until these folks have a specific answer the bill will never pass.

Deadlines

"There ought not be any artificial deadlines here," Davis says of the president's wishes to get the reform bill done by August. Congress has already said that deadline won't be met.

Davis says feels the president should consider a partial victory rather than an "all or nothing" approach. President Obama's party controls both the House and Senate, but each of those chambers has "vast differences" when it comes to the debate.

Ultimately, Davis thinks the Congress should pass something that is consistent with the free market economy that brings premiums and costs down.

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