Former United State Attorney Max Wood, a Republican candidate for Georgia Attorney General, pledged today that he will use every bit of authority available as Attorney General to challenge the constitutionality of the so-called Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act, also referred to as the Healthcare Reform Act, currently making its way through Congress.

“This is a blatant unconstitutional action by the Congress of the United States.  Should the legislation become the law of the land I will use every means necessary as Attorney General for the State of Georgia and as an individual to challenge its constitutionality in court,” Wood said.

“There is more than one area of constitutional concern with the legislation.” Wood added.

“The most profound constitutional objection is that it is a classic overreach by Congress and an illegal expansion of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United State of America, Wood stated.

“It is an excessive expansion of federal powers in that Section 1501 of the proposed act requires individuals to purchase health insurance.  Regulating commerce does not include mandating commerce,” Wood said.

“There is absolutely no precedent in our history to the federal government requiring individuals to purchase a service or a product,” Wood said.

“There are also constitutional questions as to a lack of consistency and uniformity in the imposition of excise taxes.  The pending legislation treats 17 states differently when it comes to excise taxes,” Wood added.

These concerns were raised in a recent publication of the conservative Heritage Foundation, and on December 11, 2009 were discussed on the Senate Floor by US Senator Orin Hatch of Utah.

“I share the concerns of Senator Hatch and the Heritage Foundation ,” Wood said.  “We will put our best lawyers on this and file suit the first full day I am in office,”

In addition to the Commerce Clause and federalism issues that the legislation raises, Wood states he has Fifth Amendment concerns as articulated by University of Chicago Law School professor Richard Epstein.

“We should all be opposed to an unconstitutional taking of private property by the federal government.  Last week Professor Epstein published a thorough and brilliant legal analysis of how the legislation would allow such an unconstitutional taking of properties of health insurance companies” Wood said.

“This is the most monumental piece of social legislation in the history of our country.  It threatens the individual liberties of all Americans and is the largest power grab by our federal government in our 234 year history.  The people of Georgia should know how its next Attorney General is going to fight this overreach by the federal government.”