Female Legislators Rise Up Against Closed Door AHCA

Prompted to anger by the closed-door negotiations of Republican men on the secretive Senate version American Health Care Act, female legislators are speaking out about the right to universal health care, and the need to protect women and girls.

"Access to quality, affordable health care in America should be a right, not a privilege. The Senate bill presented today, which was crafted behind closed doors by 13 men, would fundamentally harm Americans young and old, do severe damage to a fragile economy, and bankrupt state governments across the country," said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee echoed this sentiment, saying, "It appears that Senate Republicans have done the impossible: they've made a morally bankrupt, heartless health care plan even worse. Once again, President Trump and his Republican friends have shown just how out-of-touch they are with the needs and concerns of the American people. This bill would kick struggling families off of Medicaid and disproportionately devastate communities of color. It would force desperate moms to choose between paying the mortgage or taking a sick child to the doctor. And it would impose an age tax on older Americans on the brink of retirement."

Gillibrand shared this concern for the nation's most vulnerable populations, saying, "It is unfathomable that the Senate GOP wants to ask middle class and low-income workers to pay more money for less coverage, all to cut taxes for insurance companies and the wealthiest among us. I could not think of a more out-of-touch or insulting proposal to working Americans already struggling with the high cost of health care today."
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"The cuts to Medicaid, in particular, are galling," she continued. "Today, Medicaid serves one in five Americans -- not only the poor, but two-thirds of those in nursing homes, more than 30 million children, and countless individuals with disabilities. To end the Medicaid expansion created under the Affordable Care Act is a cruel joke, as is the blatantly partisan attack on women's health by defunding Planned Parenthood and allowing waivers to opt out of essential benefit requirements that cover maternity care."

Lee said that it was clear why Senate Republicans have tried to his this bill in a back room, as this cruel legislation should never see the light of day.

"Republicans are willingly gambling with the health of our loved ones and neighbors, just to secure another massive tax break for their billionaire donors," said Lee. "Members of Congress should take heed: they work for the American people, not health insurance CEOs. I urge our leaders on both sides of the aisle to reject this inhumane, anti-health bill and stand up for the working families they were elected to protect."

Gillibrand also promised to thwart the legislation, saying, "On behalf of my constituents, who have spoken out overwhelmingly against the cruel proposals in the American Health Care Act, I will do everything in my power to block this bill from becoming law. If you thought the House bill was bad, or 'mean,' as President Trump put it, the Senate bill is even worse."