Sen. McLachlan Joins Coalition Urging Opposition to Federal Health Care Bill

Sends letter to Attorney General Blumenthal urging him to take action on behalf of CT residents

Hartford, CT- State Senator Mike McLachlan (R-Danbury) today joined a coalition of Republican Senators in urging Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to oppose the federally passed health care reform bill on Constitutional grounds.

In a letter sent today, Senate Republicans called on Attorney General Blumenthal to take action to protect Connecticut’s families and businesses: “The selection of healthcare providers and medical treatments, as well as the decision NOT to have certain treatments or coverage is the decision of the individual, protected by the Due Process rights of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. It is not now, nor has it ever been, in the purview of Congress to supersede those individual rights.”

In addition to concerns about the constitutionality of the federal plan, legislators expressed their view that mandating private citizens to purchase health insurances far exceeds the bounds of the Commerce Clause.

“In a free society, it has never been the duty of Congress to force the people of the United States to purchase a certain commercial product simply as a consequence of being alive,” said legislators in the written letter. “It is inherently illegal to mandate that free citizens must buy health care coverage or face sanctions.”

With a growing number of states taking legal action to opposed the federal plan, Sen. McLachlan said he felt Connecticut especially could not afford to simply be a spectator.

“We must take action on this grossly unconstitutional mandate,” said Sen. McLachlan. “We cannot afford to simply watch other states fight the battle we should be in the middle of. The people of this state deserve the protection they elected our Attorney General to give them and regardless of his personal feelings, he is bound by a duty to Connecticut residents to fight for the public’s interests.”

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