The three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a central piece of Obamacare – the requirement for every American to buy health insurance.  The court’s 2-to-1 ruling concluded that the health-care law’s individual mandate oversteps the powers granted to the federal government under the Commerce Clause of our Constitution. 

The opinion of the federal appeals court is an important win in our effort to repeal this costly and burdensome legislation.  The case now moves closer to the Supreme Court, which will be the final arbiter of the health-care law’s constitutionality.

                         An Unpopular Law

A number of serious objections have been raised against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act since it became law early last year.  The health-care reform’s tax increases, premium hikes, and new spending threaten to weaken our already struggling economy.  The Congressional Budget Office has estimated it will reduce our workforce by 800,000 jobs over the next decade.  The Heritage Foundation says the law is likely to add an average $75 billion to the country’s deficit each year.           

The public disapproval of the law is widespread.  According to a new Rasmussen poll, 60 percent of Americans favor its repeal – almost twice as many as those who do not.  Twenty-six states, including Mississippi, are a part of the suit sent to the 11th Circuit Court.  Nearly all states, in fact, have joined lawsuits or taken other official action. 

                      Constitutional Check on Power

We can look, as the judges have done, to our Founding Fathers for guidance.  The court’s latest decision is a much-needed check on the Obama Administration’s repeated attempts to wield more and more power.  As the court stated, the health-care law’s individual mandate is an “unprecedented” use of federal authority.  Forcing individuals to have health coverage from birth until death amounts to government regulation “at every point of their life.”  It invalidates the defined and limited powers set forth in our Constitution.

We must build on the momentum of the 11th Circuit Court as we push for the entire health-care law to be overturned.  The judges’ decision is a breakthrough step toward reining in the federal government and returning power where it belongs – with the American people.  A rejection of the law’s other harmful provisions needs to follow, including the elimination of the Independent Payment Advisory Board and the vast power it gives unelected bureaucrats.

                    Restoring Americans’ Rights

I voted against the President’s massive health-care law because it is the wrong approach to lowering health-care costs.  Since then, I have voted for its full repeal and remained committed to finding practical solutions that do not infringe on Americans’ constitutional rights. 

The Constitution’s 10th Amendment explicitly states that “powers not delegated to the United States … are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”  As the 11th Circuit now affirms, forcing individuals to enter into a health-care contract does not qualify as one of these delegated powers.  To argue otherwise shortchanges our Bill of Rights.

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