LIMA — After the latest attempt by Senate Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act failed, the temptation for advocates of that law would be to sit back and celebrate a victory. However, a group of people gathered at Lima’s Town Square on Saturday to call for increased access to health care for all Americans, something they say is a basic human right.
Complete with a protest songs featuring such lyrics as “We are standing up for health care,” the rally, organized by Allen and Hardin for Election Action and Democracy, featured speakers criticizing efforts to repeal the bill while offering personal stories of how the ACA expanded their access to health care.
“Health care has emerged as a paramount issue for the resistance because we see the relentless efforts in Washington to repeal it, replace it and undermine it,” AHEAD member and rally organizer Maya Fischhoff said. “We see those efforts affecting our lives. Health care is such a basic issue for people. Everybody has a story, and this hits us very personally. What I love about this protest is that anybody could be a speaker here.”
One speaker, April Nester, told her story, saying how expanded access to health care helped her deliver a healthy son with a midwife.
“I have no doubt today that because I was able to make decisions regarding my health care that were in line with my values, my pregnancy was less stressful, my birth and recovery were easier, and my son was healthier, thanks to the Affordable Care Act,” she said.
She also said that the Medicaid expansion helped her and her son retain access to health care even after she divorced.
Fischhoff said that the end goal of the rally was not necessarily to promote one form of expanded access to health care over another, with some in attendance supporting the current ACA and others supporting a single-payer health care system.
“All of us believe that health care is important for all Americans and that Congress should be extending and expanding access to health care rather than trying to undermine it,” she said.
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