Bush-Appointed Texas Judge Rules Entire Obamacare Law Unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, TX, could have ruled on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act before November’s midterm elections. But that would’ve denied Republicans the opportunity to lie repeatedly during the campaign by saying they support protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
O’Connor also could’ve waited until after Saturday, the deadline for Obamacare enrollment this year. Instead, the night before the deadline, he torpedoed the entire Affordable Care Act in one of the most sweeping, invasive, and unnecessary rulings in recent memory. Now, access to healthcare for millions of Americans is in jeopardy.
Thanks, Republicans. Great job.
In his ruling, the judge noted that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was “unconstitutional,” and therefore the remaining provisions of the healthcare law are “inseverable” and “invalid.” Without the individual mandate, which Republicans repealed late last year, the entire law must go, according to O’Connor’s logic.
All of this is part of the Republicans’ obsessive plan to tear down Obamacare without any semblance of a plan to replace it.
Just five days before Christmas last year, Republicans stuck a repeal of the individual mandate into their overnight tax reform package benefitting the über-wealthy, knowing that the individual mandate was a centerpiece to making the legislation work properly.
The next month, 20 state attorneys general and a governor, led by Texas, filed a lawsuit arguing that because Republicans had killed the individual mandate, the entire law should be thrown out. Following along with this partisan script to deny healthcare coverage to millions, O’Connor agreed.