With Friday marking the two-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the federal health-care bill into law, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney called for repealing the law -- even as his rivals for the GOP nomination took aim at the state health-care law he signed in Massachusetts and a challenge to it heads to the Supreme Court.
Romney, riding high after winning the Illinois primary on Tuesday and getting the endorsement of former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, took to the pages ofUSA Today to argue against the health-care law. The former Massachusetts governor also looked to draw differences between the law he signed and the federal one that Obama championed.
Romney also weighed in on the pending Supreme Court decision on the federal health-care law. With Florida leading a coalition of 25 other states arguing that the law is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next week. Oral arguments start Monday and run until Wednesday.
Whatever the Supreme Court decides about the constitutionality of Obamacare, we already know that it is bad policy and wrong for America, Romney maintained. Abolishing it and putting sensible changes in its place will be one of my highest priorities as president.
But Romney drew fire from his main rival for the Republican nomination on Friday -- former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Santorum insisted on Friday that Romney signed a health-care law that helped pave the way for the federal one. Santorum also maintained that the Massachusetts law provided for taxpayer-funded abortion.
"Mitt Romney has misled voters on Romneycare; he said he was not for mandates at the federal level when in fact he was," Santorum said.
Santorum added that there was no co-payment required under the Massachusetts law for abortions.
"He said he didn't require Catholic hospitals to provide services that were against their conscience, when in fact he did, and he said he didn't provide free abortions under Romneycare, when he did, Santorum maintained.
Newt Gingrich, still seeking the Republican nomination despite only winning primaries in South Carolina and his home base of Georgia, said on Friday that he backed the states that are challenging the federal law. While he attacked Obama and the federal law, Gingrich did not direct his fire toward Romney or any of the other Republican candidates.
Next week, the Supreme Court opens its historic arguments to decide whether the Congress overstepped its constitutional bounds, Gingrich said. I strongly support the 26 states that will argue that the Congress had no legitimate authority to pass Obamacare. If this law is allowed to stand, there will be no end to the power of government. The government will ultimately control very personal decisions over life and death.
Ultimately, we must demand the full repeal of Obamacare, and that will most likely require congressional action, Gingrich added. Congress should listen to the American people and repeal this law now. As president-elect, I will ask Congress to pass a bill repealing Obamacare before I take office so I can sign the bill after the inauguration. We can then work to pass a replacement bill which empowers patients and doctors to lower the cost of health care to expand access, rather than empowering Washington bureaucrats.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
