Obamacare Repeal Vote: South Carolina House Passes Bill Making Health Care Law 'Null And Void'

The South Carolina State House of Representatives passed the Freedom of Health Care Protection Act by a margin of 65-39 Wednesday. The bill, if it passes the State Senate, will likely be signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C. Haley, the first Indian-American officeholder in South Carolina, has been a staunch opponent to President Obama's marquee policy.

The Freedom of Health Care Act puts the brakes on the Obamacare mandate, officially the Affordable Care Act. The South Carolina bill considers Obamacare unconstitutional within the confines of the Palmetto State. The US Supreme Court ruled, in a controversial vote decided by Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., that the health care bill was Constitutional on the federal level.

South Carolina's legislative rebuttal drew praise from the Tea Party and numerous opponents of Obama's chief legislation: "I could not be prouder," said Chris Lawton of the Greenville Tea Party.

Haley said prior to the bill's passage that "That's not for us, that's not South Carolina," in regards to the sweeping Obamacare legislation. She said that South Carolina taxpayers could not afford the burden of the Affordable Care Act. "Despite the rose colored rhetoric coming out of [the District of Columbia], these [health care] exchanges are nothing more than a way of making the state do the federal government's bidding in spending massive amounts of taxpayer dollars," Haley said. While Haley has not officially said she would sign the legislation, according to Raw Story, her words insinuate that she may indeed support the legislation.

The Freedom of Health Care Protection Act has been sent to the South Carolina Senate's Committee on Finance in Columbia.