Contraceptives Provision Removed from Stimulus Plan

In an admirable move, President Obama has contacted Henry Waxman, whose committee was responsible for placing the contraceptives fuding in the stimulus package, and had him remove the provision. MSNBC reports:

From NBC’s Mike Viqueira
The provision within the stimulus that would allocate money for contraceptive programs through Medicaid will be pulled out of the package.

NBC News confirms that the president called Henry Waxman, the chairman of the committee that inserted the contraception provision into the stimulus during the mark up last week, to ask him to remove the measure from the bill, according to a Democratic leadership source.

In short, the idea has simply become too controversial. Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s defense of the program over the weekend, where she indicated that it would be a money saver, was not well received.

So that provision is out.

Complicating matters, both Minority Leader John Boehner and No. 2 Eric Cantor have told House Republicans that “all Republicans should vote against the stimulus” if it remains “in its current form,” according to a GOP leadership aide.

They spoke inside their weekly conference meeting, behind closed doors. Afterward, both men came to the on camera stake out. The House will begin debate on the stimulus package late today, with no votes expected until tomorrow. Debate is expected to begin somewhere close to 5 p.m. ET.

I am glad that House Minority Leader John Boehner voiced his concern after meetings with Obama and other top officials. I hope that this is the first of many sincere gestures by President Obama to minority Republicans. With a little luck, this will send a message to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that she should have been doing the same over the past two years.