Update: Video of Obama's remarks here.
Obama spoke to House democrats today on the healthcare bill. A vote on the bill is expected tonight. The House was awaiting abortion language from Bishops, which they've now received.DEM LEADERS HOPE FOR VOTE BETWEEN 7 and 9 p.m. COUNT EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 220, WITH 218 NEEDED. PoliticoObama met with the caucus at 11:30 am:
President Obama will meet with members of the House Democratic caucus Saturday in a rare visit to Capitol Hill as he works to push forward proposed health care legislation.House members are speaking on the floor live at cnn.com. See the House bill here.
But the contentious issue of abortion is threatening to delay Saturday's scheduled vote on the nearly $1.1 trillion health care bill by the full House of Representatives and possibly push it back to Sunday, according to two Democratic sources.
In a late night development, anti-abortion Democrats scored a major victory by persuading Democratic leaders to allow them to offer an amendment during the House health care debate Saturday that would ban most abortion coverage from the public option and other insurance providers in the new so-called "exchange" the legislation would create, three Democratic sources told CNN.
The prohibition would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life is in danger.
House Democratic leadership sources said that win or lose, they hope giving abortion foes the opportunity to vote will clear the way for passage of their health care bill. CNN
