Attorney General-Elect Ready To Defend Opting Out Of Federal Health Care Law

Ed Murray, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Nine of the 11 state questions passed, including SQ 756, which in essence allows Oklahoma residents to opt out of federal health care. But just because voters have decided to add this to the state's constitution doesn't mean this issue to over.

These votes are really just the starting point. While voters have said they want to opt out, the big question still remains; can the state actually do that, even with a constitutional amendment? The answer is no, not without a court fight. It's a fight the current attorney general was not willing to join but the attorney general-elect can't wait to begin.

"We're going to send a message to Washington D.C. that we're going to use the courts to push back against Washington D.C.," said Attorney General-elect Scott Pruitt.

Pruitt said one of those "push back" efforts will be against health care reform on constitutional grounds.

"We've talked often about setting up a federalism unit where we will retain attorneys to make sure that we wake up each day and go to bed each night with one thought in mind; how do we protect Oklahoma's freedom? In the next 2 years, that's going to be important because we still see an aggressive Washington D.C.," said Pruitt.

But OU law professor Joseph Thai believes Pruitt will be fighting a losing battle.

"As a constitutional scholar, I can tell you that there's about 200 years worth of Supreme Court cases that support the ability of the federal government to regulate in this area," said Thai.

However, Pruitt believes the voters have given him a key weapon to challenge federal health care when SQ 756 passed with 65 percent of the vote. The measure makes "opting out" part of Oklahoma's constitution, allowing him to argue in court that this a 10th Amendment state's rights issue against an unconstitutional law.

"It's a very helpful thing to us as it relates to the potential litigation that we'll be involved in. We will engage. We will challenge Obamacare and challenge it very soon," said Pruitt.

"The ultimate question would essentially be whether the law is constitutional. If the federal health care law is constitutional, there's no choice for Oklahomans. They have to obey it regardless of whether or not Oklahoma citizens have decided on their ballot that they would not want to obey it," Thai said.

Pruitt said he's received sound advice from Virginia's attorney general who has already filed one of the state lawsuits against the federal law. Some experts say fighting the federal health care law could come at an enormous cost to Oklahomans.

The U.S. House went back to Republicans last night and the expected next Speaker John Boehner already said the GOP will begin to "lay the groundwork" for repealing the health care law.

More: Can Oklahomans Really Opt Out of the Federal Health Care Law?