20 states seek to block Obama’s health care law

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Twenty Republican-led states are seeking to temporarily invalidate former President Barack Obama’s health care law while their larger lawsuit against it proceeds.

In a February suit, Texas and Wisconsin led a coalition arguing that the Affordable Care Act is no longer constitutional after the Republican-backed tax overhaul eliminated fines for not having health care coverage.

Sixteen states with Democratic governors later sought to intervene. They suggested that Democratic attorneys general will have to defend the law because President Donald Trump’s administration won’t.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday that a motion seeking a preliminary injunction was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Paxton argues that it’s “necessary to spare the people of Texas and the other states from the enormous financial burden” of the individual mandate.