Federal Judge Rules Entire Health Care Law Unconstitutional

President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation, assailed as an abuse of federal power in a 26-state lawsuit, was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. judge.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida, declared the law unconstitutional in a ruling today. Then-Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum filed suit on behalf of 13 states on March 23, the same day Obama signed into law the legislation intended to provide the U.S. with almost universal health-care coverage. Seven states joined the litigation last year, and six signed on this year.

The White House says a ruling by a federal judge against the new
health care law is an example of judicial "overreaching" and "activism."

"This
ruling is well out of the mainstream of judicial opinion," Stephanie
Cutter, an assistant to President Obama, wrote on the White House's
blog after Judge Roger Vinson in Florida ruled that the entire law is
unconstitutional. "Today's ruling ... is a plain case of judicial
overreaching. The judge's decision contradicts decades of Supreme Court
precedent that support the considered judgment of the democratically
elected branches of government that the Act's 'individual
responsibility' provision is necessary to prevent billions of dollars
of cost-shifting every year by individuals without insurance who cannot
pay for the health care they obtain."

A senior administration
officials said the judge's analysis of the ruling was "odd and
unconventional" and expressed confidence that the decision won't stand.
"A good deal [of the analysis] is built on sort of, rhetorical
conjecture," an official told reporters on a conference call.
"Obviously this case will be appealed. ... This is not the last word by
any means."

Read the rest of the White House response at Politico