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Judge Rules in Healthcare Lawsuit brought by Texas and 25 Other States

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott helped spearhead a lawsuit over the Healthcare Law adopted last year. A Florida federal judge ruled in favor Texas and 25 other states this afternoon
Image by Christopher Kosho for KUT News
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott helped spearhead a lawsuit over the Healthcare Law adopted last year. A Florida federal judge ruled in favor Texas and 25 other states this afternoon

A federal judge in Pensacola, Florida ruled today that a key element of the health care law passed by Congress last year is unconstitutional.

The Associated Press reports that senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson sided with Texas and 25 other states, which claimed that the law's requirement for people to buy health insurance or face a financial penalty violated an individual's rights.  A federal judge in Virginia drew the same conclusion in a similar lawsuit in mid-December.  Two other federal judges have upheld provision of the healthcare law, which may now be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is expected to make remarks about today's ruling late this afternoon.

Ian Crawford joined KUT as News Editor in 2008, after spending over four years as a reporter/anchor at KLBJ Radio in Austin. He began his broadcasting career while still in high school in Southern Oregon. During high school and college at the University of Oregon, he worked at times as a reporter, news anchor, sports play-by-play reporter, music host and commercial producer before moving to Texas in 2003.
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