ObamaCare Found Unconstitutional, Center Stage During 2012 Elections?

The provision in President Obama’s health care law requiring Americans to buy health insurance or face tax penalties was ruled unconstitutional on Friday by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta.

It was the first appellate review to find the provision unconstitutional — a previous federal appeals court upheld the law — and some lawyers said that the decision made it more likely that the fate of the health care law would ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

The court found that Congress exceeded its powers to regulate commerce when it decided to require people to buy health insurance, a provision of the health care law known as the “individual mandate.” But the court held that while that provision was unconstitutional, the rest of the wide-ranging law could stand.

A 2-to-1 majority ruled that the mandate was beyond Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, writing that “what Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 2-1 vote that the federal mandate that requires individuals to either buy health insurance or be fined is a a “wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority,” according to Chief Judge Joel Dubina.

The judges in court found that “the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy and make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives” went beyond the authority of the constitution.

According to CNN, that “unconstitutional” portion of the law will likely be heading to the Supreme Court, which will likely put the issue front and center during the 2012 elections when President Obama will be facing off against a GOP candidate. Most of the Republican candidates, including frontrunner Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, have vowed to repeal the bill — dubbed by them as “ObamaCare” — if they are elected into office.

According to a Gallup poll in January of this year, 46% were in favor of repealing the healthcare system enacted by Obama and Congress, while 40% oppose to repealing it. Republicans were those most likely voting to repeal it — 78% to 15% — while Democrats were more likely to vote to let it stand — 64% to 24%. Independents, who are often credited in deciding who wins the presidential election, are more split with 43% wanting it repealed and 39% wanting it to let it stand.