If the Democrats in Congress who passed ObamaCare socialized medicine thought the American people and the states would “roll over” and meekly accept it, events in the months since ObamaCare was enacted show otherwise.
Public opposition to ObamaCare has remained remarkably strong. Voters in Missouri have overwhelmingly approved a referendum striking at the very heart of the law. And now, the first courtroom skirmish in the battle over ObamaCare has been won by those who oppose it.
The administration asked a federal judge to dismiss the state of Virginia’s lawsuit against ObamaCare’s key requirement that Americans purchase government-approved medical insurance.
But the judge said no.
U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson wrote in his ruling permitting Virginia’s lawsuit to go forward, “While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate – and tax – a citizen’s decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the Supreme Court nor any circuit court of appeals has squarely addressed this issue.”
Happily, the Constitution does address that issue – by nowhere delegating to the federal government any power to force Americans to purchase medical insurance, however desirable such coverage may be.
Since the 10th Amendment reserves to the states and the people those powers that are not delegated to the federal government, forced ObamaCare is unconstitutional.
It should, of course, be noted that the decision letting Virginia’s lawsuit move ahead does not in itself declare ObamaCare unconstitutional, but it does allow the state to make its case in court.
Florida is leading 20 states in a separate legal challenge to ObamaCare.
With Democrats in Congress having ignored the Constitution to pass ObamaCare, it is now the job of the courts to strike down ObamaCare’s unconstitutional provisions – or for Congress to repeal them.