Update from Yesterday!

So, as I'm sure you all have seen by now all over the news, Obamacare was upheld 5-4 by the Supreme Court. Justice Roberts held the deciding vote, and he voted in favor of Obamacare. The Act was upheld, ruled as constitutional, and will continue to be implemented. This is not good news for the pro-life cause (my main focus for the summer), and in my opinion, it's also not good news for the country on the whole. 


This picture kinda sums up what it looked like outside the Supreme Court yesterday: (but a lot more crowded and crazy)

Pictures speak more than words, so here are some more pictures before I say anything else. 

Obamacare supporters. They came in a few different groups. "Protecting our Care" and "Medicare for All", to the just plain and easy "We Love Obamacare" to women from NARAL, Pro Choice America, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund "Protect Women's Health"/ "Stop the War on Women"

There were some random groups, and this group was near ours. They seemed to be against Obamacare mostly for economic reasons. Another sign read "Obamacare: Anti-life AND Anti-choice" (interesting point)

The Tea Party had a HUGE representation.
"Don't tread on me" "You can't fix unconstitutional"

Students for Life's group of college students and supporters

My head is still kind of spinning from all the input it's had over the past few days, but I want to share what I know. 


-Basically written into Obamacare are lots of provisions that further empower and embolden abortion "rights" in our country. It's very abortion-minded legislation. It's going to make the pro-life fight even harder.
-What was ruled on yesterday was Obamacare as a whole, not the specific HHS mandate, because that is a separate case (really, separate cases) in the Supreme Court (all the lawsuits from Catholic dioceses, etc). However, the mandate is a part of Obamacare, and as it is now, Obamacare is going through as planned.
-To make things clearer: The President made two executive directives pertaining to the carrying out of Obamacare, and these were: 1) the Individual Mandate, requiring that all Americans purchase healthcare, and 2) the HHS mandate, requiring that religious institutions cover contraception, abortifacients, and sterilizations for their employees. (which I've talked about).
-Many believe that Obamacare is unconstitutional based on that 1st directive--that the government can mandate that everyone purchase anything (in this case, healthcare). The way the Supreme Court upheld this in law is by saying that if you don't purchase healthcare, you are not penalized, you are simply taxed. Which is funny, too, because Obama had been previously reiterating that his healthcare plan would not impose any new taxes.
-Really, the whole law is very confusing, as is the 160-page ruling of the Supreme Court.
-Bottom line for Students for Life (and for me right now): Obamacare furthers the abortion agenda. 


Some other thoughts from yesterday: 

• As I said I would, I made my own sign to carry during the demonstrations. I wanted to be able to fully "own" it. My sign read "I am a woman. Obamacare does not liberate me." I made this sign in anticipation of women being present with "Stop the War on Women" signs and the like. I got a lot of press from the sign, and was interviewed 3 times! As shown in the picture above, women were indeed present from NARAL and PP. The "Women are Watching" signs originated from Planned Parenthood. Their tactic is to make this all about women's rights, and to make people afraid to be politically incorrect and say anything that might be construed as anti-woman. The fact of the matter is, opposing this law had nothing to do with waging a "war on women." I wanted to stand up as a woman who was against Obamacare, and say that just because I am a woman, I do not have to support this Act. 
• I know that the Affordable Care Act touches much more than just abortion and pro-life related issues. I know that it expands coverage to millions of Americans, and that healthcare is very important and needs reform. However, I stood outside the Supreme Court yesterday representing the voices of Americans who are against abortion, and who are against legislation that aims to expand abortion's reach in our country. I chose that specific issue to be there for, even though many other conversations could be had about Obamacare. To me, creating a more pro-life America is paramount. Obamacare is a huge step backward in that regard. 
• It's really easy to be a supporter of Obamacare. "Healthcare for all" makes you sound pretty good, right? We staked our place out from 7am, but a huge pro-Obamacare group marched in at 9am with a boombox and cheerful signs with the simple message "We Love Obamacare." Or, my favorite: "Obamacare. Awesome." "Hands off my Obamacare" was a popular chant. I have friends who support Obamacare, and I know many people can make a logical defense for it, but I think a lot of people can also just jump on the bandwagon because it's the trendy thing to do. That's the vibe this group gave off. 

Well, head's still spinning. After 13 hours of sleep, too! (We woke up a little before 5, and when we finally returned home 12 hours later, I went down for a nap which turned into a 13-hour sleep.) I think that's all I'm going to say on the Obamacare decision for a while. I want to think about other things :) I know what I wrote was probably not perfect, but I hope my sincerity and intention to both understand and be understanding comes through.