haha: Fed Appeals Court Slaps Down Liberty University's Challenge to the ACA
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday rejected a Christian university's challenge to President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare overhaul, which the school said unconstitutionally imposes costly burdens on large employers and infringes religious liberty.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, rejected Liberty University's argument that the law violated the constitution's Commerce Clause by forcing large employers to provide health insurance to full-time workers and violated First Amendment religious protections by subsidizing abortions.
The 3-0 panel decision addressed issues that the U.S. Supreme Court did not take up in June 2012, when by a 5-4 vote it upheld most of the healthcare law known as "Obamacare."
In that case, the court upheld the individual mandate requiring people to buy insurance or pay a tax. It said the mandate was a valid exercise of Congress' taxing power, though it exceeded Congress' power under the Commerce Clause.
Mathew Staver, the dean of Liberty's law school, said in a phone interview that the university plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court this month.
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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/11/us-usa-obamacare-university-idUKBRE96A0RQ20130711