Ailing Rep. Linda Sánchez will vote on healthcare bill

Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), who has missed almost every vote this week, will be in the House chamber on Saturday to support the Democrats' healthcare reform bill.

The congresswoman and her son both have the flu, according to Sánchez spokeswoman Marsha Catron.

Catron added in an e-mail, "She will be there to vote for the Affordable Health Care for America Act -- so that all Americans will have access to quality, affordable health care and so that women will no longer be discriminated against nor denied coverage.”

House Democrats need every vote they can get. At least a dozen Democrats are vowing to reject the bill while few, if any, Republicans will support it.

Earlier this year, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) returned to the House from rehab to vote for climate change legislation. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), recovering from back surgery, also came back to the lower chamber to register his yes vote on the climate measure, which passed 219-212.