By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Congressman Spencer Bachus(R) from Vestavia issued a press release announcing that he and over a hundred other members of Congress had signed on in support of a brief to the United States Supreme Court asking the Court to declare the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly referred to as “Obamacare” unconstitutional.
In his press release Congressman Bachus said, “The individual mandate to purchase health insurance is a slippery slope and I’ve stated my belief that it is unconstitutional. This requirement is so pivotal to Obamacare that if it is struck down, the entire law should be voided. The two should not be severed, and I was honored to be asked by the American Center for Law and Justice for my support in this case. The government takeover of health care was an overreach from the start and an affront to the constitutional principles that guide our nation,” said Congressman Bachus.
Congressman Bachus who has supported challenges to the law in lower, Congressman Bachus said, “Our forefathers could not comprehend such an outrageous act.” The brief was prepared by the American Center for Law and Justice for the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on the constitutionality of Obamacare. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the individual mandate requiring American citizens to purchase healthcare insurance, but it did not strike down the act in its entirety. Other circuits have upheld the constitutionality of the mandate.
In their Supreme Court brief, the American Center for Law and Justice’s wrote, “The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit correctly ruled that the individual mandate is unconstitutional because it exceeds Congress’s powers under Article I of the United States Constitution. The Eleventh Circuit, however, erred in concluding that the individual mandate can be severed from the remainder of the ACA. The unconstitutional individual mandate is the essential component of the ACA’s reforms to the health insurance and health care markets, as the Federal Government has conceded.
Congress would not have passed the ACA absent the individual mandate. Without the individual mandate, the ACA’s remaining provisions cannot function properly. Thus, the unconstitutional individual mandate is not severable from the ACA, and the entire Act must be invalidated. This Court should reverse the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment on the severability issue.”
The United States Supreme Court should make their ruling on whether or not the bill is constitutional or not before the end of the year. All the Republican candidates for President have vowed to have the bill repealed if they are elected to office.
Congressman Spencer Bachus represents Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District. Rep. Bachus is Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.
