Michelle Obama Skips Abortion Reference In Latest Health Care Sales Pitch

Mrs. Obama's 10-minute speech was a sales pitch intended to generate pressure on Congress to pass White House health care legislation. Sounding a bit congested, Mrs. Obama didn't have to say much in the way of explanation for her stuffiness to the all-female audience in the East Room. "I've got children, and now I have a cold," she said to laughter. "It goes along with the territory."

Mrs. Obama's session came as the House late Saturday night passed a health care bill with a provision dealing with insurance coverage of abortions, and who would be eligible to purchase a policy. The Senate is drafting its measure and it is not clear yet whether the restrictive House language on abortion will be embraced by the Senate.

Once the Senate passes its bill -- and it will take a lot of wrangling to keep the 60 Democrats together, since every one of their votes may well be needed -- both chambers have to vote again on the final language.

The Obama White House and Democratic House and Senate leaders hope to strip the anti-abortion provision from the final version or water it down. Still, as my Politics Daily colleague Jill Lawrence reports, the abortion rights lobby, surprised by the amendment, is gearing up for a fight.

Against this backdrop, Mrs. Obama's event addressed what the White House perceives as the concerns of not just females over 65 but middle age women who are still raising their families and not old enough for Medicare, the national health insurance program for seniors. Seniors, who have high voting turnout rates, are being told by the Obama forces, and Mrs. Obama on Friday, that their Medicare benefits will not be eroded.

Mrs. Obama had to acknowledge that a lot of the details are still up in the air. "Now, I can tell you -- I can't tell, actually, what the bill that will ultimately land across my husband's desk will look like -- none of us can," she said. Mrs. Obama said she is up against "a lot of misinformation on this topic," and echoed her husband's promise that essentially Medicare coverage won't be eroded.

Mrs. Obama also echoed pledges that have become the health care mantra of the Obama White House: a person's insurance will not automatically change; out-of-pocket expenses will be capped, and insurers could not deny coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Now, it will be interesting to see in the weeks ahead if Mrs. Obama, in her continuing promotion of health care legislation, leaves her comfort zone to discuss the abortion issue that threatens her husband's most important domestic policy initiative.