States Sue Over Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Poll Shows Americans Supportive
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 23, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The attorneys general of 13 states immediately filed lawsuits against the pro-abortion health care bill President Barack Obama signed Tuesday morning. They include 12 Republicans and one Democrat, of Louisiana, and a Rasmussen poll finds Americans supportive of their actions.
Just seven minutes after Obama signed the measure into law, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum took the lead and filed the suit for his colleagues in court in Florida.
"The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage," the lawsuit says, according to an AP report.
McCollum, who is pro-life, is joined by attorneys general from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Colorado and Louisiana.
Some states are looking at other ways of getting out of participating in the pro-abortion health care bill as Virginia and Idaho have passed legislation to do that.
Portions of the bill begin in six months while other provisions don’t kick in until 2014, so courts have time to consider the constitutional challenge before the legislation takes effect.
The lawsuits enjoy the support of the American people according to a Rasmussen poll.
A new survey it released today finds 49 percent of Americans favor their state suing the federal government to fight the requirement in the new national health care plan that every American must obtain health insurance. Just 37 percent disagree and 14 percent are undecided.
Seventy-two percent of Republicans and 58% of voters not affiliated with either major party favor such lawsuits. Sixty-five percent of Democrats are opposed to them.
"This suggests that filing a suit would be popular in Republican leaning and toss-up states but not in strong Democratic states," the polling firm noted.
A sizable majority of Republicans and most unaffiliated voters think states should have the right to opt out of some or all of the health care plan passed by Congress. Most Democrats oppose opting-out in any fashion, the poll showed.
Meanwhile, the pro-life American Center for Law and Justice, said today it is backing legal challenges by the state officials.
The ACLJ says it will file amicus briefs on behalf of thousands of its supporters in the lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the health care law by numerous states.
"Most Americans do not want this plan. That includes millions of pro-life Americans who don’t want to be forced to purchase a health care package that funds abortion," ACLJ chief counsel Jay Sekulow told LifeNews.com.
"We support the litigation being initiated by a number of states and plan to file amicus briefs in those cases representing thousands of our members. This health care law should not be forced upon the American people. We believe the courts will agree," he added.
Sekulow added: “These legal challenges will be numerous and occur in many jurisdictions. The constitutional issues at stake are significant and it’s likely this will end up before the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Under the Senate health care bill that will be the main bill Obama and Democrats push through Congress, there is no ban on abortion funding. While some states can opt out of funding abortions under the plan, taxpayers in other states will be forced to pay for them.
But the bill contains other pro-abortion problems that are concerns for pro-life advocates.
The bill requires that at least one health care plan be promoted across the country that pays for abortions, more abortion funding would come via the affordability credits, and many of the so-called limits on abortion funding in the Senate bill are temporary and could expire or be overturned at a later date.
The Senate health care bill also pays for abortions under the Indian Health Service program.
And it contains the Mikulski amendment that would allow the Obama administration to define abortion as preventative care and force insurance plans to pay for abortions.
Finally, the Senate bill does not contain language needed to offer full conscience protection for pro-life medical workers and facilities.
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