Massive resistance: Thousands converge in 39 states to take down Trumpcare

It’s that simple, and the American people know it.

On Tuesday, Americans in 39 states will engage in more than 120 actions to demand that their elected officials protect their health care, in a nationwide Day of Action organized by the grassroots group Indivisible Project.

“Thousands of Indivisible groups in every single state are uniting on their home turf to send a message to those senators on the fence that their constituents won’t let them get away with supporting TrumpCare,” said Ezra Levin, co-executive director, in a statement to Shareblue.

Activists are also meeting on Capitol Hill to confront Republican senators about their support for repealing Obamacare. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats will be participating in a People’s Filibuster to show their opposition to the GOP plan.

The group has created ample resources at TrumpCareTen, with scripts for contacting the 10 Republican senators most open to voting against the Republican bill to repeal Obamacare.

The Center for American Progress and Save my Care have teamed up to launch the Our Lives, Our Stories campaign, collecting stories from people across the nation whose lives were changed for the better by Obamacare.

Kathleen from New Mexico is a single mother, a small business owner, and a survivor of domestic violence. She was able to start her business because of Medicaid expansion under Obamacare.

“Some people claim that if you’re on Medicaid, you’re lazy and you don’t want to work,” she said. “I’m here to break that stigma. I work all the time and I try my best to expand my business—because my goal is to make enough money so that I don’t need Medicaid. For right now, having that safety net and knowing I have health insurance is such a huge relief.”

Colleen from Nevada is currently in remission from lung cancer and wouldn’t have been able to get treatment without Obamacare. “Had I not had Obamacare,” she said, “I would not be here today to talk about it.”

Paula from Ohio has “aggressive stage IV metastatic breast cancer,” which has moved to her brain. Because of the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, she said, “I was able to afford health care that enabled doctors to give me the care I needed. There’s still a lot of care and treatment that I have to receive, and that’s what’s keeping me alive.”

Kelley from West Virginia has struggled with an immunodeficiency disorder for more than a decade. “When I was first diagnosed,” she said, “there was no requirement for insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, and every month when it was time to send out the new medication, the insurance company would call and say that they would no longer cover it, that they were dropping me.”

She rationed medication, and her parents took out a second mortgage on their home to pay for her treatments. Because of Obamacare, she no longer worries about being denied access to care because of her pre-existing condition. She no longer worries about reaching “a lifetime maximum of benefits.”

But if Republicans repeal Obamacare, she said, “All of those fears return. I could never afford the meds on my own, and I’d likely go bankrupt trying to pay for them.”

While Republicans have shamelessly lied about the damage their bill would do, those people who depend on Obamacare know better. That’s why a majority of Americans, and even one-third of Trump voters, oppose Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare.

Americans are fighting to protect health care like their lives depend on it — because for so many, they do.