Compassionate Care Act

The bill to improve end-of-life care falls within the general welfare and commerce powers of Congress. Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 grants Congress the power to 'provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States,' which encompasses measures to promote public health. Additionally, the regulation of medical care and services that affect interstate commerce is authorized under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. The Federalist No. 23 emphasizes the necessity of providing for the general welfare through energetic government, and No. 41 confirms that the general welfare clause i…

The Constitution grants no enumerated power to the federal government over the general health or medical care of the people. The Tenth Amendment reserves such matters to the states or to the people themselves. A bill to improve end-of-life care, however well-intentioned, exceeds the limited and delegated powers of Congress, as no clause in Article I, Section 8 authorizes federal regulation of medical practice or the intimate decisions surrounding death. The Ninth Amendment further warns that the enumeration of certain rights shall not be construed to deny others retained by the people, includi…

The Constitution grants Congress no general police power over health or medical care. Under the Tenth Amendment, powers not delegated to the United States are reserved to the States or to the people. A bill to 'improve end-of-life care' would be constitutional only if it is a necessary and proper exercise of a specifically enumerated power, such as regulating interstate commerce (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) or providing for the general welfare through spending (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1). If the bill merely directs state or private medical practices without tying them to interstate co…

This bill, on its face, seeks to improve end-of-life care, a matter of general welfare. However, the Constitution vests in Congress only enumerated powers. To be constitutional, this legislation must be a necessary and proper exercise of a specific enumerated power, such as the power to regulate interstate commerce under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, or the power to tax and spend for the general welfare under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. If the bill merely regulates medical practices within a state without a clear connection to interstate commerce, it would exceed Congress's authority, as…