The Supreme Court today announced that it would hear arguments in several cases challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, President
Obama’s signature achievement and the most important piece of health care reform legislation in a generation.

Marge Baker of People For the American
Way Foundation issued the following statement:

“Today’s announcement by the Court confirms what many of us have known for some time: the ultimate fate of the Affordable Care Act rests with the
Supreme Court. But this case won’t just impact this particular piece of legislation. It will be a test of whether or not the federal government will
continue to have the authority it needs to solve the challenges we face as a nation.

“For the past 30 years, the far right has systematically worked to reshape the federal courts to twist the law to support their policy preferences, and
recently we’ve seen a disturbing shift in the Supreme Court itself. More and more often we’ve seen a distinct right-wing agenda replace the common
sense jurisprudence that has characterized the Court’s best decisions. The decision in Citizens United to throw out more than a century of
established law in order to give corporations the same rights as people to influence elections might be the most famous example, but it’s far from the
only one. There’s no question that the authority to manage our increasingly out of control health care system for the benefit of the American public is
well within the scope of Congress’s powers. What remains to be seen is whether or not the ultra-conservative wing of the Court will let the
Constitution prevail over political concerns.”

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