Opinion: Health Care Legislation

From Michael Connelly - Retired attorney, Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton, Texas

House Bill 3200

Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House
Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied
it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional
law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were
being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse
than what I had heard or expected.



To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its
implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the
media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care,
particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are
involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion
services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members
of the medical profession.

The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out
of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions
about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal
bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals.
Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of
necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.


However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface.
In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention
of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a
convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the
Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been
contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions
of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been
destroyed.

The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of
power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the
U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama
Administration authority in a number of different areas over the
lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is
that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those
areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S.
Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of
Congress to regulate health care.


This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the
Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information,
your personal financial information, and the information of your
employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation
of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the
Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.
You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been
legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and
4th Amendments may provide.


If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private
insurance that is not deemed "acceptable" to the "Health Choices
Administrator" appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you.
It is called a "tax" instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid
application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment.
However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law
that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is
definitely depriving someone of property without the "due process of
law.


So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate
so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are
effectively nullified by this law. It doesn't stop there though. The
9th Amendment that provides: "The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people;" The 10th
Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved
to the States respectively, or to the people." Under the provisions of
this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the
states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas
that once were theirs to control.


I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you
get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing
power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the
members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or
affirmation" to support the Constitution. If I was a member of
Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything
like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or
affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American
people would hold me accountable.


For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they
consult the source.

Here is a link to the Constitution:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html


And another to the Bill of Rights:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html


There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.

Michael Connelly

Retired attorney,

Constitutional Law Instructor

Carrollton, Texas