 samantha ward  daughter of tom stephanie ward bath high school graduate gpa 40 class valedictorian organizations extra curricular national honor society secretary renaissance member academic team student government president class officer secretary volleyball big brothers sisters ymca coach capital region community foundation youth action committee work ingham county health department tobacco prevention program student decoy mead hunt inc archiving specialist college plans samantha will be attending michigan state university to study professional writing  samantha ward essay  the affordable care act affordable care act obamacare the health care bill whatever it is you refer to it as it rsquo s unconstitutional to its core while supporters of the legislation falsely promote its function to insure the uninsured and provide cheaper overall health care as well as state that the forced purchase of health insurance is within the federal government rsquo s jurisdiction under the commerce clause it must be noted that nowhere in the constitution anything medical including health care is ever mentioned under the commerce clause the central government is given the power to regulate interstate commerce but not to force citizens to buy a consumer product because the commerce clause does not justify the law the power to regulate health care is most certainly only left to the individual states from the states rsquo perspective the affordable care act among numerous other pieces of current legislation is a direct violation of the states rsquo rights and goes against the limitations of governmental powers the tenth amendment to the united states constitution was the last amendment included in the bill of rights authored by james madison who through also authoring many of the federalist papers of the eighteenth century advocated the strict and limited roles of the federal government supported by the proponents of adding individual rights to the already ratified constitution the bill of rights created a crucial amendment in maintaining a federal system of states within a union an important amendment the tenth specifies that any power not explicitly given to the federal government is then reserved for the individual states those who believe the affordable care act is constitutional point to the provisions of the commerce clause under the commerce clause congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce however it is only commerce that substantially affects interstate transactions that is under the jurisdiction of the federal government this important distinction is necessary in preserving the balance in powers between the federal government and those governments closer to the people however the affordable care act signed by president obama and effective on march 23 2010 mandates individuals to purchase a privately manufactured and run consumer product or pay a fine if they refuse to purchase insurance this in no way correlates to the guidelines under the commerce clause and therefore the power of regulating and shoving healthcare unto the nation is not explicitly given to congress the possessors of this power then lie solely in the states the affordable care act is unconstitutional from its very perception as it directly violates the tenth amendment in that it has acted on powers reserved only for the individual states furthermore in mandating all citizens to purchase a good or give up money rightfully earned it is restricting not only the rights of the states but the direct rights of the constituents of the country bibliography bill of rights in the news bill of rights institute bill of rights institute web 28 mar 2014 http billofrightsinstituteorg wpcontent uploads 201112 healthcareactanswerkeypdf is obamacare constitutional the tenth amendment network np web 28 mar 2014 http wwwtenthamendmentnet home universalhealthcareinsurancemandateconstitutionasp the requirement to buy coverage under the affordable care act health reform kaiser family foundation web 28 mar 2014 http kfforg infographic therequirementtobuycoverageundertheaffordablecarea  