Today, Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate continued their grossly irresponsible, shameful assault on our economy and the health care families rely on by approving a Motion to Proceed to a vote on a mysterious health care bill. Republican U.S. Senators have not read the bill, experts have not reviewed the bill, the Congressional Budget Office has not scored the bill’s impact and, most importantly, the American people know nothing about the bill. This partisan, secretive process has been shocking in its disregard for families and our economy -- and it must stop now.  
 
Time and again, Congressional Budget Office analyses have shown that no matter which path Senate Republicans take to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the results will be devastating. Every single bill they have proposed would strip health insurance from more than 20 million people; raise premiums and reduce protections for those who maintain their coverage; end Medicaid as we know it; and defund Planned Parenthood, restricting women’s access to the primary and preventive care they need. This would create a crisis for our nation and particularly for families in vulnerable communities, including low-income families, people with disabilities, the elderly, and those who live in rural and medically underserved communities, with a compounding impact in Black, Latinx, Asian, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities.
 
It’s clear that Senate Republicans know how unpopular health care repeal is among their constituents, and how damaging the results would be. That’s why they’ve chosen to move forward under a shroud of secrecy, without analyzing how the final bill would affect coverage and affordability, how state budgets would be affected, or how their legislation would destabilize insurance markets and threaten our economy. This is not how our democracy is supposed to work.
 
Any vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act or gut Medicaid funding is a vote to harm our nation’s families and economy. That is why tens of thousands of MomsRising members across the country have been making calls, attending meetings, sending letters, sharing their stories, and taking other actions to urge Congress to protect the Affordable Care Act and support Medicaid -- including by delivering storybooks to Senators just last week. Moms persevere through months of sleepless nights with waking babies. We stay up late helping kids with homework for decades. We are indefatigable. Every U.S. Senator can be assured that the moms of America are watching and nothing stops us when it comes to the health of our children and families.