US supreme court upholds Obamacare after Republicans seek to gut law

Justices affirm constitutionality of Affordable Care Act amid Republican attacks on key provision

The US supreme court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, after Republicans attempted to gut an important provision of the law during the Trump era.

In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled Republican states ultimately did not have “standing” or the right to sue. The ruling avoided the issue of whether the tax provision of the law called the “individual mandate”, and therefore the entire law, was unconstitutional.

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Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment is a wake-up call for women voters | Cecile Richards

It’s not only Roe v Wade on the line. Parental leave, affordable childcare, equal pay, the Affordable Care Act - all are under threat

The pandemic and its collateral economic crisis have illustrated like never before that women are the backbone of America. Before Covid-19, women made up more than half the workforce, nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers, and the majority of caregivers. One in three jobs held by women has been designated as essential. Right now, millions of women are pulling off an impossible balancing act: working while trying to keep their families safe and healthy during a terrifying time. Others have lost jobs, have had their wages or hours cut, and more than 800,000 women have left the workforce.

This crisis is disproportionately burdening women, especially women of color. They need immediate relief, but instead of solving this crisis, Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have focused on one thing: pushing through a supreme court nominee who wants to take away healthcare for millions and strip away rights women have had for decades. And they’re doing it against the will of the majority of Americans, who believe that voters should decide who makes the next appointment to the court.

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Amy Coney Barrett pledges ‘open mind’ and plays down conservative record

  • Nominee avoids answering directly on how she would rule
  • Lindsey Graham hails ‘woman who is unashamedly pro-life’

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s nominee to the US supreme court, promised to keep an “open mind” when considering cases before the court during a final round of questioning on Wednesday, as Republicans declared her confirmation all but assured despite Democrats’ forceful opposition.

Members of the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday att...

RBG says women are being “tossed to the wind” in Supreme Court birth control case

The US Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in controversial cases about religious and moral objections to contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration expanded existing “conscience exemptions” dramatically but a nationwide injunction has so far blocked the new rules from going into place.

The justices’ phone debate was long and sometimes painfully technical. However, distilled, the issue at the heart of these matters is relatively simp...

Why US businesses are opining on a Supreme Court case about contraception

On May 6, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases about the Trump administration’s expansion of the “conscience” exemptions to contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The changes allow institutions providing health insurance to avoid paying for birth control, for religious or moral reasons, without notice.

A nationwide injunction has blocked implementation of the changes so far. Now the justices are faced with three very technical legal que...