House Democrats ought to be embarrassed by the anti- abortion amendment grafted over the weekend to their landmark health care legislation. As ugly as the health care debate has gotten, the last thing the women of this country likely expected was that a Democrat-controlled Congress would want to limit their ability to purchase health insurance plans that cover abortion.

But that's exactly what happened when the House adopted the last-minute anti-choice amendment. It goes far beyond the established practice of banning Medicaid funding for abortion and makes it difficult for anyone buying insurance with any form of government assistance to get abortion coverage. And because of that, the opportunity to purchase coverage for the procedure may be diminished for all women, even those who get no subsidies from the government.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called the House decision an "outrageous blow to women's freedom and privacy," and it's difficult to see it as anything less. It's one thing to ban federal funding for abortion, as has been done in the past; it's quite another to restrict the access of women who are buying health coverage with their own money.