used the broccoli argument in a 2012 summation. The broccoli mandate was referenced by the conservative Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia in 2012, in his summation against healthcare reform. On March 27 of that year, Justice Scalia asked
Donald B. Verrilli Jr., a lawyer for the
Obama administration, to defend the
individual shared responsibility provision (commonly called the individual mandate) of the
Affordable Care Act (ACA), saying to Verrilli: Opponents of reform — such as Justice Scalia — say that it should not be compulsory for American people to purchase
health insurance under the
Affordable Care Act just because it is beneficial, otherwise, an enforcement body could similarly mandate Americans to buy
broccoli because of its benefits to human health, which they say is an example of over-reaching authority. It has been described as a form of the
slippery slope and
reductio ad absurdum arguments. Supporters of the individual mandate have questioned this analogy. For example, Verrilli told Justice Scalia that the health care market is unique and: ==Legacy==