Healthcare Freedom Act Passes Alabama Senate!

by: Matthew Givens
Tenth Amendment Center
Apr. 02, 2010

I just got the word a few minutes ago. Around 6 pm this evening, the Alabama Senate passed SB233, the Healthcare Freedom Act, which would protect our right to provide for our own healthcare without being subservient to government dictates.

The bill was amended by Zeb Little (D) so that the amendment will NOT be on the November ballot, but will instead appear on a July 31st special election. The purpose for that appears to have been that Democrats don’t want the bill on the November ballot because they’re afraid it will increase Republican turnout.

This is a victory for Alabamians, make no mistake, but I do have one concern.

I have for many years opposed holding special elections whenever possible. Why? Because special elections are well known for low turnout, sometimes below 10% of registered voters, and a constitutional amendment deserves to receive votes from as MANY voters as possible, not from as FEW as possible. What the democrats did to this bill is wrong, pure and simple.

They COULD have included it in the November general election, or on the June 1 primary election date, or on the July runoff date. But no, they elected to create a special election of its own to reduce the number of people who will actually end up voting on the issue.

That’s not a crime, but it should be. Why? Because it needlessly wastes money and reduces the number of people who actually vote on a change to our constitution. The fact that it was done for partisan political gain makes the offense worse, not better.

cross-posted from Politics Alabama

****** EDITOR’s NOTE*****

The Tenth Amendment Center has released the Federal Health Care Nullification Act, which directly nullifies the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" on a state level. Click here to learn more.

CLICK HERE to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s health care freedom act tracking page

Matthew Givens has been involved in politics for the past decade. He ran for office twice, once for Public Service Commission and once for City Council. He has been very active fighting local taxes, and is a former Vice-Chairman of the Alabama Libertarian Party. He was also a proud delegate for Ron Paul in the 2008 Presidential election. He runs the blog, Politics Alabama.












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