Several newspapers recently published opinion pieces regarding an amendment sponsored by Reps. Bart Stupak's (D-Mich.) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) to the House health care reform bill (HR 3962) that would prohibit abortion coverage in private and public health plans that receive federal subsidies. Summaries appear below.

~ Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe: The debate over health reform has proven that "women are the first to be sacrificed in the name of political compromise," columnist Vennochi writes. Not only has the Stupak amendment "empowered the antiabortion movement," but new guidelines on breast cancer screening could "help health insurance companies position themselves" to cover fewer mammograms, creating a "two-tier health care system" of women who can afford screenings and those who cannot, Vennochi claims. She adds that "when you need to cut corners, women are at the head of the line" (Vennochi, Boston Globe, 11/19).

~ Lanny Davis, The Hill: Despite the bitter debate over the Stupak amendment, "there is an opportunity for compromise" by creating legislation that bans abortion coverage under the public option but allows it under state exchanges, columnist Davis writes…