In last weekend’s House health reform vote, three of North Carolina’s conservative Democrats opposed the bill, despite an anti-abortion amendment designed to curry favor among Democrats who oppose abortion rights.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan declined Tuesday to say how she would have voted on the House bill, Barb Barrett reports.

"Our bill is going to be quite different from that bill," said Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat. "I would rather support what’s coming out of the Senate and see what we can get from a compromise position."

The House Democrats who voted against the bill were Reps. Heath Shuler of Waynesville, Mike McIntyre of Lumberton and Larry Kissell of Biscoe.

But Hagan does not favor the anti-abortion amendment, which would have restricted health insurance companies' ability to fund abortions if they compete for federal subsidies. Women seeking coverage would have to purchase their own insurance riders.

Hagan espoused the position that other moderate Democrats have favored, which is that health reform ought to keep the status quo regulations, which now prohibit federal funding of abortion.

"My preference would be not to change anything from the standpoint of the way we currently handle any sort of federal regulation," Hagan said Tuesday. "We don’t need to make any other changes."

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr will oppose Kathleen Sebelius' nomination.

The Winston-Salem Republican said today that he cannot support the Kansas governor's nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services because of her recent veto of an abortion bill.

On Thursday, Sebelius vetoed a bill that would have amended Kansas law on late-term abortions, questioning whether it was constitutional and suggesting it would lead to intimidation of doctors.

Burr said that he had some concerns about Sebelius' "tax problems" after he estimtony in March, though he did not think they were "disqualifying."

"However, I am troubled by her decision late last week to veto a Kansas bill that would have tightened restrictions on late term abortions, and I intend to vote against her confirmation," he said in a statement.

Full statement after the jump.

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A bill would restrict specialty license plate designs.

Rep. Lucy Allen, a Louisburg Democrat, said she filed the bill to help police and State Highway Patrol officers identify North Carolina plates.

"We now have at least 150 specialty plates, and more are coming along this session," she said. "Some of them are hard to identify."

Allen's bill would still allow state-issued plates to feature causes such as the Appalachian Trail or the Blue Ridge Parkway, but it would require them to have a standard "First in Flight" background.

She said the problem of reading state specialty plates has come up often in the House Transportation Committee.

Still, Allen said the bill has nothing to do with perennial fight over "Choose Life" plates or other hot-button issues.

"I have voted for every (specialty plate) that I've had a chance to vote for," she said.

Recent House bills of note:

H.B. 414: Judicial Appointment/Voter Retention, Rep. Johnathan Rhyne

H.B. 421: Use of Deadly Force/SBI Investigations, Rep. Kelly Alexander

H.B. 427: Counties May Fund Charter Schools, Reps. Tim Moore, George Cleveland, Larry Brown and William Current

H.B. 430: Voter Identification, Reps. Moore, Current, Paul Stam and Ric Killian

H.B. 431: Abortion-Parental Consent Notarized, Reps. Mark Hilton and Pat McElraft

H.B. 432: Conscience Protection/Health Care Providers, Rep. Hilton

Recent bills filed in the Senate of note:

S.B. 235: Personal Protection in Restaurants, Sen. Andrew Brock

S.B. 236: Notarized Consent for Minor's Abortion, Sen. Brock

S.B. 237: Voting Materials in English, Sen. Brock

S.B. 259: Interscholastic Sports Open to All Students, Sen. Jim Jacumin

S.B. 262: Expunctions/Purge Online Databases, Sen. Phil Berger

About 70 people showed up for a rally at the Legislative Building this morning in support of a bill to create a "Choose Life" specialty license plate that would raise money for private, non-profit adoption agencies.

"This bill has the potential to raise a lot of money for women who need it to support their pregnancies,” said Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, the House Republican leader.

Rep. Mitch Gillespie, a Marion Republican, said he has been unable to get a floor vote on his proposal, despite eight years of effort, reports Bruce Siceloff.

"It's sad we're the only southeastern state that does not have a 'Choose Life' plate," said Barbara Holt, president of N.C. Right to Life.

Some speakers said pregnant women should receive information about all their options, including abortion. Gillespie's bill would not allow money from the Choose Life plate sales to be distributed to any organization that "provides, promotes, counsels, or refers for abortion."

A second bill would increase the penalty for injuring any pregnant woman.

While a bill filed by Sen. Doug Berger would boost the penalties for injuring a woman more than 20 weeks pregnant, another bill covers a woman in any stage of pregnancy.

Sen. Pete Brunstetter, a Forsyth County Republican, says his bill would cover "any time from conception forward."

Although he sponsored an unsuccessful bill identical to Berger's in last year's session, Brunstetter said he wanted to give legislators an option to vote for a broader definition.

He was not optimistic that either bill would get a hearing, though similar measures have passed in three dozen other states.

"It's going to be tough to get this heard because it will get caught up in the abortion discussion," he said. "There's 36 states that have managed to get around that discussion, including some that are very liberal and some that are very conservative."

Both pro-life and pro-choice groups have expressed concern about the bills. 

Both pro-choice and pro-life groups are concerned about a bill to increase the penalty for injuring a pregnant woman.

The bill, sponsored by a pro-choice Democrat and a pro-life Republican, would make it a separate felony charge to injure a woman who is more than five months pregnant.

Sean Kosofsky, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, said his group would be watching the bill "very closely." He said existing criminal statutes on assault may be adequate.

"There are concerns among advocates for women that the language in some of these bills may be a creative way to limit definitions for abortion are in our state," he said.

Meantime, Barbara Holt, executive director of N.C. Right to Life, said her group thinks any legislation should reclassify the death of an unborn child as a second murder.

"Those families who have lost an unborn child want recognition that there have been two lives lost," she said.

A few more bills have been filed in the Senate:

S.B. 21: Organ Donor Awareness Month, Sen. Tony Foriest

S.B. 22: Ban Texting While Driving, Sen. James Forrester

S.B. 23: Restraint/Juvenile in Custody/Court's Discretion, Sen. Jerry Tillman

S.B. 24: Special Plate for the Given Memorial Library, Sen. Harris Blake

S.B. 25: Horton Independent Redistricting Commission, Sen. Pete Brunstetter

S.B. 26: Injury to Pregnant Women/Additional Offense, Sen. Brunstetter

A pro-life group says the State Abortion Fund should be eliminated.

Barbara Holt, executive director of N.C. Right to Life, said that she wholeheartedly agrees with a budget official who recommended Gov. Beverly Perdue cut the state's fund to help poor women pay for abortions.

Though the fund has gone unused since 1995, Holt said it was an important symbol.

"Even one abortion is one too many," she said.

Holt noted that the state budget includes funding for abortion in at least two other places: the state employee health plan and a children's health insurance plan. She said those programs should be cut as well so that the state spends no money on abortions.

"We support taking any payments for abortion out of the budget," she said.