Yesterday, the Thomas More Law Center’s Petition for Review of their case challenging Obamacare was delivered to the nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court along with four other pending petitions.
On November 10, 2011, the Court, in private session, will consider for the first time whether to grant review on all, some, or none of the cases. A grant of review is not assured. However, if the Court grants review, it will also determine on what issues.
The Thomas More Law Center v. Obama challenge asks: (1) Whether Congress acted within its constitutional powers in passing the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act; and (2) Whether the individual mandate provision of the Act is unconstitutional as applied to the individual petitioners who lack health insurance.
TMLC filed the first lawsuit against Obamacare moments after President Obama signed the bill in March 2010. TMLC’s challenge was filed on behalf of the Law Center and four private citizens.
Although review is not certain, legal experts agree the Court will likely grant review because of conflicting opinions in the lower courts on the constitutionality of the individual mandate, which is the signature and most controversial provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Filings in the cases can be found on the Supreme Court’s website, here. The four other petitions to be considered by the Justices in November are:
- National Federation of Independent Business, et al., v. Sebelius
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, et al., v. Florida, et al.
- Florida, et al., v. H.H.S.
- Liberty University, et al., v. Geithner, et al.