--- title: Obamacare Repeal: President Vetoes Affordable Care Act Repeal description: The bill would have also defunded Planned Parenthood. canonical: https://time.com/4173152/president-obama-vetoes-affordable-care-act-repeal/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-08T18:04:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:54:52.925Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Vetoes Affordable Care Act Repeal og:description: The bill would also have defunded Planned Parenthood og:url: https://time.com/4173152/president-obama-vetoes-affordable-care-act-repeal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt621827d3c36ea692/69887833cd1bbaec876fed97/gettyimages-503939252.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4847 og:image:height: 2726 og:image:alt: President Discusses Executive Action On Guns og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Vetoes Affordable Care Act Repeal twitter:description: The bill would also have defunded Planned Parenthood twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt621827d3c36ea692/69887833cd1bbaec876fed97/gettyimages-503939252.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Vetoes Affordable Care Act Repeal > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=efda429b-2268-4b89-b483-766fd3e185da&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 8, 2016 6:04 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama discusses reducing gun violence with CNN's Anderson Cooper at George Mason University on January 7, 2016 in Fairfax, Virginia. The president this week announced new, relatively mild executive actions to regulate the gun industry. U.S. President Barack Obama discusses reducing gun violence with CNN's Anderson Cooper at George Mason University on January 7, 2016 in Fairfax, Virginia. The president this week announced new, relatively mild executive actions to regulate the gun industry. Pool—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 8, 2016 6:04 PM UTC President Barack Obama vetoed legislation on Friday that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act, as well as effectively defunded Planned Parenthood. The President chided the Republican-led legislature in a lengthy statement issued with the veto, saying that instead of wasting their energy on repealing the law, Congress should focus more on the nation’s economy. “Rather than refighting old political battles by once again voting to repeal basic protections that provide security for the middle class, Members of Congress should be working together to grow the economy, strengthen middle-class families, and create new jobs,” Obama said. “Because of the harm this bill would cause to the health and financial security of millions of Americans, it has earned my veto.” The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the bill repealing the health care law. The President’s statement notes that Congress has made over 50 attempts to repeal one of the administration’s signature legislative achievements. Obama said the bill would have increased the number of uninsured Americans by 22 million after 2017 and caused more than 10,000 additional deaths. “This legislation would cost millions of hard-working middle class Americans the security of affordable health coverage they deserve,” the statement read. The bill goes back to Congress, where the law’s opponents do not have the votes to override the veto. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4173152/president-obama-vetoes-affordable-care-act-repeal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4173152/president-obama-vetoes-affordable-care-act-repeal/"},"headline":"President Obama Vetoes Affordable Care Act Repeal","datePublished":"2016-01-08T18:04:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:54:52.925Z","description":"The bill would have defunded Planned Parenthood","url":"https://time.com/4173152/president-obama-vetoes-affordable-care-act-repeal/","keywords":["White House","Congress","Affordable Care Act","President Barack Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt621827d3c36ea692/69887833cd1bbaec876fed97/gettyimages-503939252.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt621827d3c36ea692/69887833cd1bbaec876fed97/gettyimages-503939252.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Discusses Executive Action On Guns","caption":"President Discusses Executive Action On Guns","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4173152/president-obama-vetoes-affordable-care-act-repeal/","name":"President Obama Vetoes Affordable Care Act Repeal"}}]}] ```