Healthcare Law Suffers as Florida Judge Declares it Unconstitutional

Sunday, 13 February 2011 21:13

Written by Julius

The Healthcare Law, a piece of reform legislation that had long been debated for decades and divided many before it was passed and signed into law last year, was declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida. Vinson ruled that provision of the law (popularly called Obamacare) that requires Americans to have his or her own health insurance starting in 2014 is too forceful for the people concerned.

As a result of the ruling, Vinson took sides with 26 states (represented by their respective governors and attorneys general) and went on to say that “the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void,” On the other hand, the Obama administration announced that it strongly disagrees with Vinson’s ruling, that it would make an appeal and that it was confident it will prevail even if the legal fight gets elevated to the Supreme Court in the future.

Meanwhile, Vinson’s ruling drew praise from critics of the law as well as attacks from those who strongly support it. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner believed that the decision is correct and that it clearly emphasized that the federal government should not be engaged in forcing people of different walks of life to buy health insurance and penalize them for not getting insured. Historically, the healthcare reform campaign had passed through decades of intense debates not just in the political arena but also in society in general. The reform failed during the time of Clinton administration but succeeded during President Barack Obama’s first fourteen months in office.