According to CNN, “A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday declared unconstitutional an Affordable Care Act requirement that insurers and employers offer plans that cover HIV-prevention drugs for free, saying it violates the religious freedom of a Christian-owned company.” This is one aspect that I comment on in another post. But this ruling goes further: “As part of the ruling, O’Connor declared unconstitutional part of the broader preventive services mandate, which requires insurers and employers to cover at no charge screenings for cancer and heart disease, as well as programs for smoking cessation, among many others. However, the judge upheld certain free preventive services for children, such as autism and vision screenings and well-baby visits, and for women, such as mammograms, well-woman visits and breastfeeding support programs. O’Connor also upheld the mandate that provides immunizations at no charge for the flu, hepatitis, measles, shingles and chickenpox. At issue is whether the United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, volunteer panel of national experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, could determine what general preventive services would be covered for adults under the mandate.”
These conservative judges! I hate them all. But animosity aside, let’s recognize the real aim of this legislation: To kill the ACA. Full stop! Once again, ACA-haters have brought suit to complain and b*tch about some aspect of the law that forces them to care for people. This is just one more back-door attempt to get SCOTUS to rule the law unconstitutional. This will be the fourth attempt. Indeed, I think this time could work. Unlike most previous attempts, SCOTUS is now a 6-3 conservative supermajority. Even though SCOTUS voted in favor of upholding the ACA with a ruling last year, plaintiffs learn something with every case they lose to kill the ACA. At some point, they’ll find the right lawsuit to get before SCOTUS to kill it outright or by a thousand cuts. Sound familiar? Can you say Roe? Mark my words, morons. As with Roe, they are coming to end the ACA because that’s precisely what most Americans don’t want, but this is America where the actual majority of Americas live by minority rule. Whatever. Welcome to stupid America! We never learn.