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Selected Works

Elizabeth A. Weeks

Constitutional Law

Publication Year

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Rhetorical Federalism: The Role Of State Resistance In Health Care Decisionmaking, Elizabeth Leonard Aug 2010

Rhetorical Federalism: The Role Of State Resistance In Health Care Decisionmaking, Elizabeth Leonard

Elizabeth A. Weeks

This Article makes the affirmative case for the widespread trend of state resistance to the recently enacted, comprehensive federal health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, or ACA. A significant number of states have engaged in various forms of objection to the new federal laws, including filing lawsuits against the federal government and enacting state laws providing that ACA will not apply to residents of the state. This Article identifies reasons why those actions should not be disregarded simply as Tea Party antics or election-year gamesmanship but instead should be considered valuable to the health …


State Constitutionalism And The Right To Health Care, Elizabeth Leonard Aug 2009

State Constitutionalism And The Right To Health Care, Elizabeth Leonard

Elizabeth A. Weeks

This Article examines state constitutions and health care rights. Notably, close to a third of states’ constitutions recognize health while the U.S. Constitution contains no reference. Ample scholarly commentary exists on the absence of a right to health care under the U.S. Constitution but little attention has been paid to state constitutional law. This Article begins by explaining the absence of a federal right and the rationale for looking to state constitutional protections for health. The Article then provides a comprehensive survey of state constitutional provisions and judicial decisions enforcing or interpreting them. The survey reveals certain common themes and …