Federal Judge Dismisses Obamacare Challenge

On Tuesday, A Federal Judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed a lawsuit filed against the health care reform law.

The lawsuit, filed by an organization founded by evangelical figure Pat Robertson, argued that the law’s mandate to purchase insurance was unconstitutional since it violated the plaintiffs’ religious freedom to reject medical services and, by extension, insurance.

In her 64 page ruling, Judge Gladys Kessler argued that Congress’ authority to mandate the purchase of health insurance was constitutional since refusing insurance could be considered an “active” choice.

“It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not ‘acting,’ especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice,” Kessler said. “Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.”

Kessler is the third judge to rule health care reform constitutional, but two others have ruled against the new law. It will ultimately end up before the Supreme Court.