Supporters of the Affordable Care Act rallied on Capitol Hill Wednesday ahead of today’s vote. Among the speakers were California Governor Jerry Brown and Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.
Rev. William Barber: “The 'Trump-Ryan take care away death bill' is being pushed through Congress. It is an unmerciful act of meanness.”
Gov. Jerry Brown: “This is not about healthcare reform. This is about disease, death and suffering. Mr. Trump, come down from Trump Tower, walk among the people and see the damage that this latest exercise in raw political power will wreck on the women, the men and the children of this country.”
Inside the Capitol, police arrested 54 disability rights activists—many of them in wheelchairs—after they held a protest that shut down the Capitol Rotunda for about an hour. Members of the group ADAPT chanted, “Rather go to jail than die without Medicaid.”