As everyone by now knows, Obamacare will require all Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance or pay a fine. But, like many “known facts,” this one isn’t an actual fact:
The Amish, as well as some other religious sects, are covered by a “religious conscience” exemption, which allows people with religious objections to insurance to opt out of the mandate.
And, in case you’re hoping that this travesty will be dropped in the “negotiations” the Democrats are having with themselves (in the absence of C-SPAN cameras), think again:
It is in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, making its appearance in the final version routine unless there are last-minute objections.
Is this obviously inequitable provision even constitutional? At least one scholar believes not. Marci A. Hamilton, who teaches law at the Yeshiva University, writes:
It is not consistent with the First Amendment to grant exemptions solely to ‘a recognized religious sect’ with ‘established tenets or teachings.’
Ironically, the insurance mandate from which this religious group gets an exception has itself has been called unconstitutional. Not that the Democrats give a rip about the Constitution.
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