Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty, and Executive Power

Six years after its enactment, Obamacare remains one of the most controversial, divisive, and enduring political issues in America. In this much-anticipated follow-up to his critically acclaimed Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare (2013), Josh Blackman argues that, to implement the law, President Obama has broken promises about cancelled insurance policies, exceeded the traditional bounds of executive power, and infringed on religious liberty. At the same time, conservative opponents have stopped at nothing to unravel Obamacare, including a three-week government shutdown, four Supreme Court cases, and fifty repeal votes. This legal thriller provides the definitive account of the battle to stop Obamacare from being 'woven into the fabric of America'. Unraveled is essential reading to understand the future of the Affordable Care Act in America's gridlocked government in 2016, and beyond.

Table of Contents:
Prologue; Part I. The Promise of Obamacare: 1. 'If you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance'; 2. Federal and state exchanges; 3. Life and religious liberty; Part II. Conscience and Contraception: 4. The contraception mandate; 5. Election slowdown; 6. Faith in the courts; Part III. Shutdown: 7. Exchanges 'established by the state'; 8. Tea party summer; 9. 'Train wreck'; 10. Filibuster; Part IV. Obamacare Unravels: 11. Lights out; 12. Canceled; 13. Government by blog post; 14. Crashing into the deadline; Part V. Religious Liberty: 15. New year's resolution; 16. Substantial burden; 17. 'Glitch'; 18. Between two ferms; 19. Corporate prayer; 20. Notorious RBG; Part VI. Nuclear Fallout: 21. Circuit split; 22. Dueling petitions; 23. 'So sue me'; Part VII. Subsidizing Obamacare: 24. #GruberGate; 25. King v. Burwell; 26. Gridlock; 27. 'Unravel what's now been woven into the fabric of America'; 28. 'Improve health care markets, not destroy them'; Part VIII. The Nuns: 29. Make health care great again; 30. Short-handed court; 31. 'Hijacked'; 32. 'Accommodation'; Epilogue.

About the Author :
Josh Blackman is a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law, Houston. He is the author of Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare (2013). Professor Blackman regularly provides public commentary on constitutional matters, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and other national publications.

Review :
'Obamacare has remarkably, if perversely, made American political discourse more interesting. It has stimulated braided debates about the proper scope and actual competence of government, about the role of the judiciary in supervising democratic processes, and about how religious liberty becomes a casualty of 'comprehensive' social legislation enlarging the entitlement state. Josh Blackman, who has been immersed in all this as a scholar and participant, gives readers an invaluable inside tour of an ongoing controversy.' George F. Will, newspaper columnist and political commentator 'Josh Blackman has written a thorough and engaging account of the political and legal issues surrounding Obamacare. This book is a must-read for all who are interested in the history of the Obama presidency and especially of its most important legislative accomplishment. Blackman presents the conservative perspective but he is even-handed, and all, including those (like me) who disagree with him, will learn a great deal from reading this book.' Erwin Chemerinsky, University of California, Irvine School of Law 'Health care involves some of the most personal and - to many people - sacred and spiritually significant issues of life and death. So it is no surprise that an attempt by government to standardize health care coverage for all Americans would raise a host of issues of conscience, choice, and conviction. Josh Blackman's new book Unraveled chronicles the legal struggles over these issues in a fair, complete, and immensely readable narrative. Three things are certain: death, taxes, and that these conflicts are far from over. This book will help us all to understand the stakes and the arguments.' Michael W. McConnell, Stanford University Law School, California 'Even-keeled and exhaustive, Blackman's Unraveled offers the consummate insider's take on the titanic legal struggles at the Supreme Court over the future of health reform. It is an indispensable resource and a gripping read.' Nicholas Bagley, University of Michigan Law School 'Josh Blackman continues to bring a gimlet eye to the legal controversies surrounding the Affordable Care Act. He combines a careful, even meticulous attention to detail with a grasp of the important issues at stake. Even people who paid close attention to the debate will find much to learn from Unraveled.' Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor, National Review 'Blackman argues that to implement 'Obamacare,' President Obama has broken promises about cancelled insurance policies, exceeded the traditional bounds of executive power, and infringed on religious liberty.' Law and Social Inquiry