Letter on ObamaCare Legal Issues
More than 25 health care experts, attorneys, scholars and conservative leaders joined together today in a letter highlighting the need for members of Congress and the President to address constitutional and other legal concerns about health care reform. In particular, the letter (included below) asks the Republican leadership in the House and Senate to raise the profile of these legal issues in connection with tomorrow’s health care summit.
February 24, 2010
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
The Honorable Jon Kyl
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable John Boehner
The Honorable Eric Cantor
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Legal issues in health care reform
Dear Senators McConnell and Kyl and Representatives Boehner and Cantor,
We and the organizations we represent are united by our concerns about the constitutionality and legal consequences of the health care bills passed by the Senate and House and supported by President Obama. We respectfully ask that you and your colleagues raise these important concerns with the President and members of Congress who support the bills during the February 25 health care summit and during the national debate over health care reform.
Our concerns about the constitutionality of the bills center on the individual health insurance mandate. Attorneys among us have analyzed the issue and concluded that requiring Americans to buy health insurance does not fall within the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.
Moreover, our analysis indicates that if the House or Senate bill were to be enacted and upheld by the courts, the result would be a trial lawyer-driven explosion of health care and insurance litigation. In other words, not only do these bills fail to constrain trial lawyers’ drain on the health care system, they actually make the problem substantially worse.
We have attached two documents which detail the basis for our concerns. One is a memo by the Conservative Action Project headed by former Attorney General Edwin Meese. The other is a Wall Street Journal op-ed. They are also available at the links below. We encourage you to share these materials with other members of Congress and the President.
In sum, we are convinced that the constitutionality and legal consequences of health care reform are far too important to be side issues at the health care summit and in the larger health care debate. Members of Congress and the President owe it to the American people to address these concerns directly. Therefore, we urge you and your colleagues to bring the legal issues to the forefront this week and beyond, and we stand ready to provide any help you need.
Documents:
http://tinyurl.com/CAP-healthcare-memo
http://tinyurl.com/WSJ-healthcare-oped
Respectfully,
Jane Orient, M.D.
Executive Director
Association of American Physician and Surgeons
Grace-Marie Turner
Founder & President
Galen Institute (for identification purposes only)
former member, Medicaid Commission
former member, National Advisory Council of Healthcare Research & Quality
Dan Greenberg
Arkansas State Representative (District 31)
Adjunct Professor of Law
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Bowen School of Law
Abigail Thernstrom
Vice-Chair
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Dr. John C. Eastman
Professor of Law and Former Dean
Chapman University School of Law
(candidate for California Attorney General)
David Rivkin
Attorney
Washington, DC
former official, Reagan and George H. W. Bush Administrations
Hans von Spakovsky
former Commissioner
Federal Election Commission.
Stephan Thernstrom
Winthrop Research Professor of History
Harvard University
Gary Bauer
President
American Values
Dr. Richard Land
President
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Alfred S. Regnery
Publisher
The American Spectator
Richard Viguerie
Chairman
ConservativeHQ.com
Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring
Curt Levey
Executive Director
Committee for Justice
Mario H. Lopez
President
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Jim Martin
Chairman
60 Plus Association
Penny Nance
CEO
Concerned Women for America
Lewis Uhler
President
National Tax Limitation Committee
Mandi Campbell
Legal Director
Liberty Center for Law and Policy
Susan Carleson
Chairman & CEO
American Civil Rights Union
Kay Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Kelly Shackelford
President & Chief Counsel
Liberty Legal Institute
Mathew Staver
Founder & Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Micah Clark
Executive Director
American Family Association of Indiana
Richard W. C. Falknor
Chairman
Maryland Center-Right Coalition
Dr. William Greene
President
RightMarch.com
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Jack Wheeler
President
Freedom Research Foundation
February 24, 2010
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
The Honorable Jon Kyl
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable John Boehner
The Honorable Eric Cantor
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Legal issues in health care reform
Dear Senators McConnell and Kyl and Representatives Boehner and Cantor,
We and the organizations we represent are united by our concerns about the constitutionality and legal consequences of the health care bills passed by the Senate and House and supported by President Obama. We respectfully ask that you and your colleagues raise these important concerns with the President and members of Congress who support the bills during the February 25 health care summit and during the national debate over health care reform.
Our concerns about the constitutionality of the bills center on the individual health insurance mandate. Attorneys among us have analyzed the issue and concluded that requiring Americans to buy health insurance does not fall within the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.
Moreover, our analysis indicates that if the House or Senate bill were to be enacted and upheld by the courts, the result would be a trial lawyer-driven explosion of health care and insurance litigation. In other words, not only do these bills fail to constrain trial lawyers’ drain on the health care system, they actually make the problem substantially worse.
We have attached two documents which detail the basis for our concerns. One is a memo by the Conservative Action Project headed by former Attorney General Edwin Meese. The other is a Wall Street Journal op-ed. They are also available at the links below. We encourage you to share these materials with other members of Congress and the President.
In sum, we are convinced that the constitutionality and legal consequences of health care reform are far too important to be side issues at the health care summit and in the larger health care debate. Members of Congress and the President owe it to the American people to address these concerns directly. Therefore, we urge you and your colleagues to bring the legal issues to the forefront this week and beyond, and we stand ready to provide any help you need.
Documents:
http://tinyurl.com/CAP-healthcare-memo
http://tinyurl.com/WSJ-healthcare-oped
Respectfully,
Jane Orient, M.D.
Executive Director
Association of American Physician and Surgeons
Grace-Marie Turner
Founder & President
Galen Institute (for identification purposes only)
former member, Medicaid Commission
former member, National Advisory Council of Healthcare Research & Quality
Dan Greenberg
Arkansas State Representative (District 31)
Adjunct Professor of Law
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Bowen School of Law
Abigail Thernstrom
Vice-Chair
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Dr. John C. Eastman
Professor of Law and Former Dean
Chapman University School of Law
(candidate for California Attorney General)
David Rivkin
Attorney
Washington, DC
former official, Reagan and George H. W. Bush Administrations
Hans von Spakovsky
former Commissioner
Federal Election Commission.
Stephan Thernstrom
Winthrop Research Professor of History
Harvard University
Gary Bauer
President
American Values
Dr. Richard Land
President
Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Alfred S. Regnery
Publisher
The American Spectator
Richard Viguerie
Chairman
ConservativeHQ.com
Colin A. Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring
Curt Levey
Executive Director
Committee for Justice
Mario H. Lopez
President
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Jim Martin
Chairman
60 Plus Association
Penny Nance
CEO
Concerned Women for America
Lewis Uhler
President
National Tax Limitation Committee
Mandi Campbell
Legal Director
Liberty Center for Law and Policy
Susan Carleson
Chairman & CEO
American Civil Rights Union
Kay Daly
President
Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
Kelly Shackelford
President & Chief Counsel
Liberty Legal Institute
Mathew Staver
Founder & Chairman
Liberty Counsel
Micah Clark
Executive Director
American Family Association of Indiana
Richard W. C. Falknor
Chairman
Maryland Center-Right Coalition
Dr. William Greene
President
RightMarch.com
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Jack Wheeler
President
Freedom Research Foundation
Labels: press_release
posted by Committee for Justice at 10:13 AM
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