US Supreme Court upholds ‘Obamacare’

In a major boost to Barack Obama’s re-election bid in November, the US Supreme Court has upheld the president’s controversial healthcare reform.

By a majority vote of five to four, the justices approved virtually every aspect of the plan – including the central provision, that Americans must take out health insurance or face a fine. Significantly, it was the conservative Chief Justice John Roberts who swung the vote for Obama.

Illustrating just how divisive the issue is, demonstrators for and against the reform gathered outside the Washington DC courthouse to await the ruling.

Mitt Romney, expected to be the Republican candidate in the presidential election, called on Americans to vote Obama out of office so the bill could be repealed.

“If we’re going to get rid of Obamacare, we’re going to have to replace President Obama. My mission is to make sure we do exactly that,” he said.

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