A great deal of controversy surrounds the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, including constitutional questions involving the freedom of religion. In celebration of Constitution and Citizenship Day, Morehead State University will present a unique opportunity on Thursday, Sept. 18, to learn more about the controversial law and recent court decisions regarding its implementation.
“Hobby Lobby, Halbig, NFIB & More: How the Constitution became Part of your Healthcare,” will be presented by Cara Stewart, J.D., Health Law Fellow with the Kentucky Equal Justice Center (KEJC), a non-profit advocacy and research center focused on poverty law.
The program is open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. in 419 Reed Hall and is sponsored by MSU’s Center for Regional Engagement and department of History, Philosophy, Religion and Legal Studies.
A lifelong Kentucky resident who was born and raised in Floyd County, Stewart is a graduate of Pikeville High School, Berea College, and Salmon P. Chase College of Law. She has worked with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, representing low-income Kentuckians in a wide-variety of civil matters, and has recently played an important role in Kentucky’s successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act by conducting community education presentations across the Commonwealth. She also has been interviewed by a variety of national media outlets, including The New York Times, National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, The Economist, USA Today, and others. This summer, she received the Young Lawyer Service to Community Award from the Young Lawyers' Division of the Kentucky Bar Association.
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are observed each year on Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, and to “recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.”
Each year, MSU celebrates Constitution Day and Citizenship Day by hosting a variety of activities and programs throughout the week of Sept. 17th, including campus voter registration, the distribution of pocket copies of the U. S. constitutions, and a reading of the constitution at the Bell Tower by MSU students.