Group urges government shutdown to stop healthcare law

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has promised that the House would hold a vote to defund healthcare reform next week. The measure will undoubtedly pass the Republican-dominated House, but Senate Democrats and President Obama are unlikely to pass any spending measure that takes away funding for healthcare reform.

The prospect of a government shutdown has haunted Republicans’ call for defunding the reform law. The government shutdown in 1995 was largely seen as a win for President Clinton as he battled Republicans in Congress.

Acknowledging this fear, the DefundIt letter said Republicans can’t afford to let the law be implemented.

“The longer term damage of ObamaCare outweighs the short term costs of a shutdown,” the letter said.

The DefundIt letter includes a number of targets for defunding, including the Preventive Services Task Force, the Office of Minority Health, the liability reform demonstration program, young women’s breast cancer awareness, the creation of a Prevention and Public Health Fund and grants for states to build new health insurance exchanges.