If you get a federal subsidy to help you pay for something, who bought it: You or the government?

That's not just a semantic question. It lies at the heart of the fight over abortion in the Democratic health care overhaul passed by the House this weekend.

In order to get a major health care bill (HR 3962 ) through the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a last-minute compromise to allow a vote to restrict abortion coverage in federally subsidized health care plans.

The Stupak amendment , named for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), passed 240-194, or 20 more votes than the health care overhaul received . It also helped secure the lone Republican vote from Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana.

Abortion-rights supporters hope to get the restriction removed when the Senate takes up the bill.

Here's what the fight is about:

* The health-care bill creates a federal exchange that would allow individuals and small businesses to buy health insurance from private companies with their own money.

* In addition, individuals and families making up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level (or about $88,200 for a family of four in the continental U.S.) could receive subsidies to reduce their monthly premiums.

* This means many low- and moderate-income people would soon be able to buy insurance with a mix of their own money and federal subsidies.

* Since 1976, Congress has barred taxpayer money from paying for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or endangerment of the mother's life.

* The Stupak amendment would prohibit individuals who get federal subsidies from buying insurance plans that cover abortion except in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment.

Back to our original question: Whose money is it?

Abortion-rights supporters say the private money contributed in monthly premiums could pay for abortion coverage, while the federal subsidies underwrite everything else.

But abortion-rights opponents who backed the Stupak amendment argue that's a false distinction. If any federal money goes to an individual who then turns around and buys abortion coverage, then it's taxpayer-funded, they say.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation , abortions currently cost an average of $430 at 10 weeks or $1,260 at 20 weeks. A 2002 study by the Guttmacher Institute found that 87 percent of private insurance plans currently cover abortion.

-- Ryan Teague Beckwith, Congress.org