Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Women sue McKenna over federal health care law

A lawsuit being filed against Attorney General Rob McKenna says his participation in legal action that seeks to overturn the new federal health care law threatens access to comprehensive coverage for women.

The politically-charged legal action brought by dozens of women was to be announced at a news conference in Seattle Thursday morning.

McKenna, a GOP candidate for governor, joined other GOP attorneys general in the federal health care lawsuit more than a year ago. He objected to a provision that required people to buy private health insurance or face a fine. He said that mandate was unconstitutional, though he supported other parts of the new law.

In their suit, the women say they want to force McKenna to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to maintain the women's health care requirements, no matter how justices rule on the individual mandate.

The Associated Press (“AP”) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP today is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. The AP considers itself to be the backbone of the world’s information system, serving thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television, and online customers with coverage in text, photos, graphics, audio and video.