Supreme Court upholds Obama health-care reform

June 28, 2012

The US Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of President Obama’s sweeping health-care reform legislation.

Writing for the majority in a hotly contested 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the individual mandate—the requirement that every citizen must purchase health insurance—was in effect a tax. “Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness,” he wrote. The dissenting justices, in a joint opinion, said: “In our view, the act before us is invalid in its entirety.”

The June 28 ruling does not affect the lawsuits brought by Catholic institutions to challenge the law’s requirement that all health-care insurance programs must include coverage for contraception. Those suits will continue to move forward.

The US bishops’ conference responded to the Supreme Court decision by urging Congress to change the law, saying that it should be amended to eliminate funding for abortion, ensure conscience rights, and provide protection for immigrants. The statement noted that the US bishops have not sought to overturn the legislation entirely.

 

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Further information:

• High court upholds key part of Obama health law (AP)
• Supreme Court decision does not address fundamental flaws in the law?Legislation still needed to fix conscience, abortion funding, immigration problems (USCCB)