Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes Denounces U.S. Senate’s Motion To Proceed Vote
For Immediate Release: July 25, 2017
Today, the U.S. Senate once again ignored the millions of Americans who have urged them to protect health insurance coverage and Medicaid patients accessing Planned Parenthood. A “Motion To Proceed” (MTP) vote will now bring an undeserving Senate debate on the most devastating health care policies proposed in a generation. The America Health Care Act (AHCA), the so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), or a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could leave tens of millions of Americans without health care while blocking Medicaid patients from accessing Planned Parenthood.
“This vote is a tone deaf and defiant act of partisanship that directly threatens the lives of millions of Americans and the countless Arkansans, Kansans, Missourians, and Oklahomans who rely on Planned Parenthood Great Plains (PPGP) for health care. We expect our elected officials to represent the best interests of their constituents, but each of our Senators who voted to proceed with this effort to decimate health care is complicit in harming the people who live in their districts. Lives are at stake now and we will not back down in our fight to ensure health care remains accessible, no matter a patient’s ability to pay,” Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes President and CEO, Laura McQuade said.
Most egregious is Kansas Senator Jerry Moran who stood against the so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) just one week ago, only to turn around and support a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement. Moran’s rural constituents attended town halls by the hundreds to oppose any effort to decimate Medicaid coverage, essential benefits, and access to Planned Parenthood.
“The Republican Senators in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma are responsible for the impending harm that could face millions of Americans, especially loyal individuals who have supported them in rural districts across our states, areas that could experience the most devastating effects. Today’s vote is disheartening but over the next 48 hours, we will mobilize the tens of thousands of citizens in our states to once again voice their opposition and demand their Senators represent their will,” McQuade said.
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Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)4 nonprofit organization that advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. We lobby state lawmakers, mobilize more than 120,000 grassroots supporters, and engage in issue education in order to protect and expand access to health care and comprehensive sex education in the communities we serve, and to promote Planned Parenthood’s mission.