But the HHS mandate is a regulation, not a legislative requirement. So a court could strike the mandate down and would have no reason to strike down the law.
Exactly Dave!
Not only that. Romney, if elected, to just have his HHS secretary rescind that onerous regulation.
On a website built especially for this conflict, the Archdiocese of Washington disputed the notion that the lawsuit is premature: "The mandate was made final on Feb. 15, 2012, so it is the law right now, and it will go into effect soon (Aug. 1, 2012, for some and Aug. 1, 2013, for others). We have pursued all other avenues to correct the problem without litigation, through efforts with the White House and Congress, and they have not succeeded. We can’t predict how the Supreme Court’s decision in the Affordable Care Act lawsuit will affect this mandate, and we can’t risk waiting in vain. So we must act as soon as possible to protect our rights before these deadlines come, and litigation takes time."
In fact, the Archiocese is correct that the rule has been finalized and is now law The Supreme Court, is not in the business as noted by Roberts, of fixing bad legislation.... However, I doubt the Bill survives February 2013...