AFT President Randi Weingarten on the Supreme Court’s Delay in Ruling on the Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after the Supreme Court’s announcement that it will not hear a case challenging the legality of the Affordable Care Act until after the 2020 election:

“The Republican Party has made its hatred of the ACA central to its political dogma, and has done everything to undermine and end it. Central to this has been the GOP’s legal strategy to challenge the law’s constitutionality. Now, when it’s clear there are consequences to this strategy—that millions of American people, including those with pre-existing conditions, will be denied healthcare—the GOP is trying to have it both ways. End the law, but do it after 2020, hoping the electorate won’t notice. 

“That is why it’s a shame the Supreme Court won’t fast-track this latest attempt to take away what should be a human right. The Supreme Court should rule on a timely basis that the law is constitutional as it has done previously, or voters should have an opportunity to hold the GOP accountable.

“While today’s Supreme Court decision keeps in place the health insurance that millions of Americans have come to rely on, its refusal not to fast-track a ruling leaves families in limbo with the threat of this bogus legal repeal hanging over their heads. In effect, another delay of this case enables the administration’s deliberate dismantling of our nation’s healthcare system, and puts the lives of countless people at risk.

“Healthcare should not be a commodity reserved solely for the wealthy; it should be a right guaranteed to all in this nation—especially in the richest country in the world. The Affordable Care Act boldly put us on the path to achieving that goal; but, sadly, the administration continues to seek to undermine it. Considering that healthcare tops the list of issues voters consider important in the 2020 elections, they will remember that come November.”