A federal appeals court's recent dismissal of two lawsuits seeking to have ObamaCare overturned has not changed the fact that ObamaCare almost certainly will wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The latest ruling, by a panel of three Democrat-appointed federal judges in Virginia, declared only that the plaintiffs in the lawsuits -- filed by the Virginia attorney general and Liberty University -- did not have standing to sue. So the court did not rule on the constitutionality of ObamaCare.
But previous rulings by two separate appeals courts split on the issue -- with one declaring ObamaCare constitutional and the other striking down its key provision that individuals must buy government-approved medical insurance or be fined.
Those contradictory rulings put the socialized medicine law on a course for the high court, where its fate is uncertain.
At stake is fundamental respect for our Constitution's limits on federal power. Though previous laws and court rulings alike have undermined the 10th Amendment's restrictions on what the federal government can do, ObamaCare would go a step further by forcing most Americans to buy insurance or be penalized. There is nothing in the Constitution permitting such an intrusion on personal liberty, however desirable it may be to have insurance. So we can see why a majority of the states have filed suits seeking to have ObamaCare overturned.
We hope they succeed.