Jennifer Wishon
Jennifer Wishon is the White House Correspondent for CBN News based in the network’s Washington, D.C. Bureau.
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court plaza has become the public square as justices weigh in on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care law.
Tuesday, demonstrators both for and against the legislation continued to gather outside the court, this time with many of them focusing on the abortion issue.
Pro-lifers are worried the law will force them to finance abortion, birth control, and controversial emergency contraception.
"We know this violates our human rights, our right to practice our freedom, our freedom of faith, and it would violate the rights of countless more unborn children," said Lila Rose, president of the student-led pro-life group Live Action.
Click play to watch Jennifer Wishon's report from the Supreme Court followed by comments from Elizabeth Milito, senior executive counsel at the National Federation of Independent Business.
Protestors are furious over a requirement that most health insurance plans pay a fee for covered abortions.
"How is that right that they're forcing me to pay for something that I don't believe in?" asked Peter Carroll, a resident of Middlesex, N.J.
"How can we stop that? My money is going to go to kill a baby!" Eva Mazzella, another New Jersey resident, added.
"I have an adopted grandson," she continued. "And God bless the mom that did not abort that child."
But pro-abortion activists are just as passionate.
"You should have that availability without having to jump through any hoops or tell anybody about it," Alexandria, Va., resident Arielle Karp said.
And defenders of the law say it's important for government to protect people and not leave their lives in the hands of health insurance companies.
"We used to have great insurance, but my husband was laid off," cancer survivor Spike Dolomite Ward said. "He had to choose between health insurance and the mortgage."
On Tuesday, the high court concentrated on the core of the law's financing: the "individual mandate" that would force all Americans to buy health insurance.
Senators both for and against the measure listened to Tuesday's arguments before the Supreme Court and came out with completely opposite reactions.
"I am convinced after listening to the two hours this morning that this court can go no other way but to uphold the individual mandate," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said.
"Obamacare has been a disaster for America and Americans financially," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., countered.
"And there's no doubt that our country has a health insurance crisis that has to be confronted, but this is the wrong way to confront it," he said.
Twenty-six states are suing over the health care law, and the attorney general from each state is in Washington to join the battle.
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