The U.S. Supreme Court appears to be the location for the final battle next summer over the legality of Obamacare, the government-run health care scheme that pro-life groups opposed because it allows abortion funding and prompts rationing concerns.

Late Monday, the Obama administration said it would not ask the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to take up the case on appeal from a judge in Florida, who ruled Obamacare unconstitutional in the case involving Florida and dozens of other states that have signed on to the lawsuit. Last month, a three-judge panel issued a 2-1 ruling agreeing with the federal judge and saying Congress went too far constitutionally in passing Obamacare.

The Supreme Court, according to a Washington Post report, would likely receive the case sometime next summer — during the intensity of the presidential election, which will likely focus in part on the much-maligned Obamacare law that a majority of Americans continue to oppose. The high court will have to wade through competing appeals court decisions — with the 11th Circuit overturning the law, the 6th Circuit upholding it, and the 4th Circuit turning down a case challenging it.

Had the Obama administration asked for the full appeals court to consider the case, that would have pushed back any decision on it until 2013, likely. The decision indicates the Obama administration believes it will win at the Supreme Court and that Obamacare is a winning issue for Obama’s re-election campaign. The decision also likely prevented more attention on another legal loss, as just five of the judges on the 11th Circuit were appointed by Democrats and one has already ruled in favor of overturning Obamacare.

As is often the case, the current 4-4 conservative-liberal split on the Supreme Court means Justice Anthony Kennedy will likely be the deciding vote on whether Obamacare is overturned or not and, if so, how much of the law is reversed and how much will be allowed to be put into play...