Cate Edwards, daughter of John and Elizabeth, opines in this piece at Politico about the impact on women, should Obamacare be held unconstitutional.
Our Constitution was created to “promote the general welfare.” So a court that strikes down the health care law would not only shirk its constitutional responsibility, it would unduly injure the welfare of American women.
My mother, using everything from blog posts to congressional testimony, challenged this country to translate the Constitution’s focus on each American’s welfare into health reform.
“Can’t we start with something easy on which we can agree,” she asked in 2008, “…that no one should die of a disease we can find and stop?” The Affordable Care Act not only protects women with pre-existing conditions like breast cancer, it guarantees women access to preventive services.
With all respect to Ms. Edwards, women have access to healthcare in this country. The issue at the heart of Obamacare is whether the federal government can force every American to engage in commerce — force every American to buy a government-approved and government-endorsed product — or face a government-imposed penalty for failing to do so. If Obamacare stands, the floodgates will open to other products and services that will be forced on Americans in the same way. I predict that those who believe as Ms. Edwards does will be very willing to create a list other items they’d like to force everyone else to buy on behalf of “the welfare of American women.”
