Some of the first reaction is in following the third and final day of Supreme Court oral arguments on President Obama’s health care law – primarily on the issues of severability and Medicaid. According to the AP, at least five justices seemed receptive to letting the entire law stand should they rule the mandate unconstitutional:
In their questions, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg – and even conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia – seemed open to the idea that the wide-ranging law contains provisions that can be saved – even if the mandate for Americans to have health insurance is struck down.
Many of the law’s provisions “have nothing to do with any of the things we are” talking about, Chief Justice Roberts said.
