By Donna Gordon Blankinship
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Dozens of women have filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Rob McKenna, alleging that his participation in legal action seeking to overturn the new federal health care law threatens access to comprehensive coverage for women.
The politically charged lawsuit is seeking a ruling that McKenna violated his ethical duties by asking the Supreme Court to invalidate protections for women’s health care.
It claims that his actions go against the wishes of his clients, the residents of Washington state.
Thus far, 90 women had signed on as plaintiffs in the case.
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 federal overhaul. The new lawsuit targets his efforts to overturn the whole law — not just the part he disagrees with.
The women say they want to force McKenna to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to maintain women’s health care requirements, no matter how justices rule on the individual mandate.
McKenna’s campaign manager, Randy Pepple, said the lawsuit was a frivolous attempt to change topics in the gubernatorial campaign from former congressman Jay Inslee’s “lack of solutions for solving the problems facing Washington state.”
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, noted that McKenna chose to follow the action of other states rather than his own statements and the wishes of his clients.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs from the public interest law firm of Smith & Lowney PLLC say McKenna’s actions are not in the best interest of Washington state and its residents, which he is obligated by law to represent.
They also accused McKenna of misinforming the state’s citizens.
The lawyers from Smith & Lowney said at a news conference that their timing — in the middle of the campaign season and well into the health care debate in Washington, D.C. — is not politically motivated.
Attorney Knoll Lowney said there’s no way of knowing when the Supreme Court will rule and that his clients decided to pursue the case around the second anniversary of the health care law’s passage as McKenna’s actions became clearer.
“The governor’s race is so insignificant compared to the stakes in the U.S. Supreme Court,” Lowney said. Although many expect the Supreme Court to rule in the near future, Lowney said this case could still affect the justices’ decision.
In a statement, the attorney general’s office said the lawsuit McKenna joined challenging the health care legislation was the best way to address concerns about the individual mandate.
Two of the plaintiffs said McKenna’s actions made them worried about their future and that the federal health care law has already helped them.
Melissa Mackey, 38, said she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer nine months after being laid off from her job.
If the Seattle woman hadn’t been able to keep her insurance from her previous employer, if she hadn’t been available for preventative care and if she had been affected by a cap on her insurance benefits, she may not have lived to speak at the news conference.
Mackey appeared offended by the suggestion that the timing of the lawsuit was politically motivated.
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