Supreme Court Justices Urged to ‘Protect the Law!’
by Jon Melegrito | March 26, 2012
More than 500 supporters from unions, faith groups and progressive organizations rallied in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the Affordable Care Act. (Photo by Jon Melegrito)
“Protect our care! Protect the law!” That was the message sent loudly by demonstrators to the U.S. Supreme Court justices today as they begin three days of hearings on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Led by AFSCME, more than 500 union members and supporters from faith groups and progressive allies rallied in front of the Supreme Court, chanting “We love Obamacare” and waving signs that read “Don’t deny my health care. Protect the law.”
By mid-morning, as the picket swelled with more supporters joining in, a press conference on the front steps of the Supreme Court amplified the demonstrators’ message. Tom Connelly, a critical care nurse and president of Local 2026 (Ohio Council 8), spoke about seeing “the heart-breaking consequences for patients, when they don’t have good health insurance. In my hospital, we’ve seen far too many women who skipped mammograms and PAP tests because they did not have coverage, only to be diagnosed later with stage IV breast cancer. You cannot imagine how devastating it is for these women and their families.”
Tom Connelly, a critical care nurse and president of Local 2026 (Ohio Council 8), said the Affordable Care Act is working and “we won’t allow our health care to become a football, tossed around by those with a political agenda.” (Photo by Khalid Naji-Allah)
Connelly, who works for the Valleycare Health Systems in Warren, Ohio, added, “this law is here to stay and we won’t allow our health care to become a football, tossed around by those with a political agenda.”
On the second anniversary of the health care reform law, Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), the nation’s leading grassroots health care advocacy organization, describes the ACA as “standing strong” despite relentless assaults by corporate-backed politicians who tried to repeal the law. “While the law will not be fully implemented until 2014, it is already providing life-changing benefits and consumer protections to millions of Americans,” HCAN’s statement added.
As a leading founder of HCAN, AFSCME led the fight for health care reform with a kickoff in July 2008. A June 2009 rally drew more than 10,000 supporters, including 2,000 AFSCME activists, from across the country to Washington, DC. AFSCME members made more than 100,000 contacts with their U.S. representatives through personal visits, phone calls, e-mails and letters. AFSCME also organized the “Highway to Health Care Reform” bus tour that visited 19 cities in 10 states, urging the public to demand real reform from their members of Congress.
