Top House Democrats on Tuesday pledged to pass a health care reform bill "soon," regardless of the outcome of a Senate special election in Massachusetts that threatened to reverberate on Capitol Hill.

But with Republican Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts, they're down one vote in the Senate and could be down another vote in the House. Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao of Louisiana, the only Republican to vote for the bill in November, won't support it again if the House's strict abortion restrictions are not preserved, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"He would rather see some form of health reform done than not done," said spokeswoman Princella Smith, "but he's just not budging on the life issue"...