http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14730901YIKES
Utah will sue to stop health reform
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 03/22/2010 09:35:11 AM MDT
Even before President Barack Obama has a chance to sign a sweeping health-reform bill into law, Utah and other states are lining up to challenge its constitutionality.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced Monday that the Beehive State would join a lawsuit brought by at least nine other states challenging a provision requiring all Americans to carry health coverage or face a fine.
"This mandate and other provisions violate the U.S. Constitution," Shurtleff said, "and infringe on individual and state rights."
For months, Republicans, led by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, have questioned the legal reasoning behind what is known as the "individual mandate." They say the federal government never before has forced people to buy a commodity and if allowed to stand would make Washington all powerful.
In an op-ed published in January, Hatch and Shurtleff argued that this requirement is a "threat to liberty itself."