Do you find yourself wincing these days? The final stretch of the healthcare debate is full of perilous twists and turns. Let me highlight two that have the potential to force the healthcare movement off the road and into a ditch.

(1) The House’s use of the “self-executing rule” to pass the healthcare legislation. If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) doesn’t think she has enough votes to pass the full healthcare bill, she can use a procedural move that allows House members to vote on a much smaller bill – a package of changes to the Senate bill – and “deem” the underlying Senate measure as passed. Republicans and some Democrats are howling in protest at this “manipulation of the process” and blatant attempt to avoid a straight up or down vote on the historic and controversial healthcare bill.

While this procedure has been used dozens of time by both parties over the years, I am howling, too, albeit with less righteous indignation. Really? THIS maneuver?!?!? At THIS time?!?!? The potential for a “deem and pass” vote seems sneaky and underhanded to me – and I’m someone who really, really wants healthcare to pass. Republicans argue that Democrats are “ignoring the will of the people” and “shoving healthcare down our throats.” If the House leadership ends up using this procedure, those cranky elephants may have a point.

(2) States lining up to sue the Federal government. As if pushing the weighty healthcare rock up hill isn’t hard enough, 37 state legislatures have passed bills ordering their state attorney generals to sue the federal government if healthcare passes. At this point, only Idaho’s governor has signed the bill, thus enacting it into law.

The states’ manevering is considered symbolic and unlikely to actually push healthcare back down the hill. However, the fact that fresh batches of critics are lining up to take more whacks at the healthcare pinata is disheartening, to say the least.

Wise Women, you may have weighed in on healthcare reform before, but your wise voice needs to be raised once more during this pivotal time. Contact your Representatives and let them know your views about healthcare reform. We can shut our eyes, wince, or do SOMETHING to influence the course of healthcare reform.