The U.S. Supreme Court is set to issue its decision today on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the landmark healthcare reform bill signed by President Obama two years ago. The case partly centers on the so-called individual mandate, which requires most people buy health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax penalty. The court will decide whether to strike down the mandate and determine whether the rest of the law can stand. Coming on the last day of the Supreme Court’s term, the decision will have major implications not just for the nation’s healthcare system, but also the 2012 election race and beyond. In a speech ahead of the decision, President Obama defended the law.

President Obama: “It’s the right thing to do that we’ve got three million young people who are on their parents’ health insurance plans that didn’t have it before. It’s the right thing to do to give seniors discounts on their prescription drugs. It’s the right thing to do to give 30 million Americans health insurance that didn’t have it before. They want to go forward.”

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has called for the law’s repeal despite its similarities to the mandate-based healthcare measure he oversaw as governor of Massachusetts. At a campaign event in Virginia, Romney said the law’s days are numbered.

Mitt Romney: “If Obamacare is not deemed constitutional, then the first three-and-a-half years of this president’s term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people. If it’s not — if it is deemed to stand, then I’ll tell you one thing: we’re going to have to have a president, and I’m that one, that’s going to get rid of Obamacare, and we’re going to stop it on day one.”