The Constitutional Question That Could Cripple Obamacare

By News on the Net —— Bio and Archives December 4, 2010

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Source: CMC Daily News Before the end of this month, two federal judges could severely weaken a sweeping health-insurance reform law that isn’t scheduled to take effect until 2014. The question Henry Hudson and Roger Vinson seem poised to address is profound and potentially ground-breaking: can the federal government require its citizens to purchase health insurance?

As the law popularly known as Obamacare wound its way through the legislative process in 2009 and early 2010, CMC joined many other Christian organizations in protesting provisions in the bill that would have provided federal funds for abortions and benefit plans that cover abortions. Those provisions unfortunately remained in the final version of the bill that President Obama signed. We would welcome judicial consideration of those provisions in the future, but Judge Hudson and Judge Vinson could strike a larger blow against the law if either rules that the government cannot require citizens to buy a health-benefit plan. The lawsuits Judge Hudson and Judge Vinson are considering are just two of nearly two dozen cases brought against the law in dozens of states. Judge Hudson has promised to rule on the issue before the end of the year, according to Kevin Sack and Robert Pear of The New York Times. It’s likely that the question of an insurance mandate will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. More...