Sleeping on the sidewalk: Disabled protesters camp out 36 hours to stop health care repeal

Despite the fact that it is, as The New York Times notes, a “still-unclear plan,” Republicans in the Senate are planning to move ahead with a procedural vote Tuesday to take up the debate on their disastrous health care repeal plan.

Even as some Republicans are openly stating that they don’t even know what they will be voting on, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will apparently not be deterred.

But neither will those whose lives literally hang in the balance in this fight.

Activists with the disability rights organization National ADAPT set up camp steps away from the U.S. Capitol building Sunday night, to speak out against the bill’s draconian cuts to Medicaid, a program that millions of Americans with disabilities rely on for their health care needs.

McConnell may have used lies to try to sway his colleagues who were nervous about those cuts, but the truth, embodied by these activists, was there on the ground for the nation to witness.

#ADAPTandResist campout to #SaveMedicaid night 1 before the downpour in DC at 1st & Constitution NW IN #DC. #ProtectOurCare #CripTheVote pic.twitter.com/G8BDr8K1zb

— NationalADAPT (@NationalADAPT) July 24, 2017

Resting before tomorrow begins then we will be back at work to Medicaid #ADAPTandRESIST pic.twitter.com/InY78zM8iv

— NationalADAPT (@NationalADAPT) July 24, 2017

#ADAPTandRESIST camping out, catching the crowd from the die-in. Chanting ‘Don’t Cut Medicaid! Save Our Liberties!’ pic.twitter.com/fLcOtg57eR

— Carol Tyson (@DanceforMyself) July 24, 2017

Most important items of the day #SaveMedicaid then demand healthcare as a right #ADAPTandRESIST style pic.twitter.com/fq5Qf5fuZw

— Colleen Flanagan (@ColleenFlangan) July 24, 2017

Pouring rain will not stop the #ADAPTandResist campout to #SaveMedicaid at 1st/Constitution NW at Senate buildings. #ProtectOurCare pic.twitter.com/RKSTi6LEcX

— NationalADAPT (@NationalADAPT) July 24, 2017

The heroes of @NationalADAPT are still camped outside the Senate. After you call 202-224-3121, pitch in to support! https://t.co/2DX3Ir01n9 pic.twitter.com/CMTtSgCXdS

— Alexis Goldstein (@alexisgoldstein) July 25, 2017

In contrast to his colleagues across the aisle, Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey stopped by the camp-out to show solidarity with the activists — and to buy them dinner.

pic.twitter.com/sMXM7SFdbW

— Natalie Kean (@KeanNatalie) July 24, 2017

The health care repeal plan, pushed by McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, and Donald Trump — though not without confusion emanating from the Executive Branch — is wildly unpopular, and was already proving to be a massive, chaotic failure.

The potential move to simply proceed with repealing Obamacare and leaving the “replacement” portion for a later date was strongly objected to by women in the GOP.

And many of Trump’s own supporters don’t even like the plans being floated.

The activists camping out on the streets of D.C. know exactly why this bill is so despised, and what its passage would do to their lives and livelihoods.

And they will do whatever it takes to make sure their government has to face up to that reality.

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