Washington, DC — Tonight, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined Protect Our Care to discuss what’s at stake for health care and the Affordable Care Act ahead of the final Senate vote for Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. One week after Election Day, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in California v. Texas, Trump’s lawsuit to completely dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and Senate Republicans are rushing through Judge Coney Barrett’s nomination because they are confident she will vote to overturn the ACA in court. Senators highlighted the impacts of President Trump’s lawsuit to terminate the Affordable Care Act, which would strip millions of Americans of their health coverage in the middle of a global pandemic made worse by this administration’s failure to protect the American people.
“Democrats are very clear on who we’re listening to in this fight: patients and families who are terrified about what’s at stake for their health care and rights. And so, up until the very last minute, we are going to keep fighting against this nomination, delaying it as long as we can, and making it absolutely impossible for any Republican to claim, ever, that they didn’t understand what was at stake for patients and families in this vote,” said U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).
“There’s no mystery here. Republicans say plainly that this nomination is an attack on Americans’ health care,” said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). “The Republican presidential platform calls for nominating judges who will reverse the Affordable Care Act. The Trump Justice Department is before the Supreme Court right now arguing to tear down the health care law. Just the other day, President Trump said ‘it’ll be good if they end’ the ACA. And this nominee has made it plain that respect for precedent in cases like the Supreme Court’s decisions to uphold the ACA isn’t a ‘hard and fast rule.’ The writing is on the wall.”
“I want to introduce you to someone who is a hero of mine, and who I brought into the committee hearing for the last couple of weeks: behind me is Conner Curran, he’s a ten-year-old boy who lives in Ridgefield. He suffers from a hideously debilitating form of muscular dystrophy. It’s a pre-existing condition. He is alive today because of treatment that his parents couldn’t have afforded without the Affordable Care Act. I brought Conner into that hearing room – his face and voice – to show the real harm to real people that will be done by striking down the Affordable Care Act. Last week, we boycotted the committee meeting, but Conner Curran was there. We left him and others so they could watch my Republican colleagues run away from this issue, because they know the American people are on our side,” said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
“There is a lot at stake with the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Republicans have rushed through the nomination of a judge who will almost certainly vote to overturn the Affordable Care Act and thus rip health care away from tens of millions of Americans,” said U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). “The vote for the next Supreme Court Justice is about more than preserving current health care protections and Medicaid expansion, it is also about ensuring that we are not going backwards into the Dark Ages—when insurance companies could deny working families, children and seniors health care coverage. I will continue fighting to protect affordable health care for all Americans.”
“It is hysterical to watch our Republican colleagues try to pretend that the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett is about anything other than their decade-long attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “We are here a week before the election getting ready for a rare Sunday night vote because of the Republicans’ ten year desire to destroy people’s health care.”
“My Republican colleagues want to rush this nominee through so that she can be the deciding vote to overturn the Affordable Care Act,” said U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH). “Their priorities are an outrage. We are doing everything we can to stop it. The American people are continuing to make their voices heard, and at the end of the day, we just need to keep fighting for health care because lives and livelihoods depend on it.”
“Senate Republicans are jamming through Trump’s anti-ACA pick for the Supreme Court because they think Judge Amy Coney Barrett will help them accomplish what they never could legislatively — completely overturn the Affordable Care Act and rip coverage from more than 20 million Americans and remove protections for more than 135 million people with pre-existing conditions,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “A vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a vote against Americans’ health care.”