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today's letter
May. 23rd, 2017 07:02 amDear Senator Johnson:
I know that historically you have been an opponent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and a loyal member of the Republican Party, and I believe you made those choices for what seemed to you to be good reasons. I don't agree with you, but I respect that you made thoughtful, informed decisions.
I am writing to ask you to change your mind. If the repeal of the ACA succeeds, if President Trump manages to implement any of his healthcare "reforms," people are going to die. They are going to die deaths that would be preventable--that are being prevented now--because they won't be able to afford the medical care they need. This isn't exaggeration, as I hope you already know; a Harvard study in 2009 found that 45,000 people died annually because of lack of healthcare. If President Trump and his supporters succeed, those numbers will increase--and many of the people dying preventable deaths are going to be people who voted to elect you to the U. S. Senate. I am writing in the hopes that your loyalty to your constituents is greater than your loyalty to your party. I am writing in the hopes that you can see that the Republican leadership, including President Trump and his Cabinet, are not acting in the best interests of the people who elected them, the people whom they promised to govern under the auspices of the U. S. Constitution.
If we believe, as the Declaration of Independence says, that all men (and women) are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, surely that means that all men and women are entitled to health care that is both adequate and affordable. The ACA provides that care, and repealing it out of party politics that are, frankly, petty, spiteful, and deeply inappropriate to our government, is both ethically and morally wrong. I don't usually make statements like that, but for me there is no nuance left in this situation. The repeal of the ACA will kill millions of people, and I might very well be one of them.
As one of the citizens whose Constitutional rights you are sworn to uphold, I am asking you to support the ACA and to vote against any effort to repeal it, undercut it, or destroy the safety it provides to all American citizens.
Thank you.
[anyone wanting to use one of my letters as a template is welcome to do so]
I know that historically you have been an opponent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and a loyal member of the Republican Party, and I believe you made those choices for what seemed to you to be good reasons. I don't agree with you, but I respect that you made thoughtful, informed decisions.
I am writing to ask you to change your mind. If the repeal of the ACA succeeds, if President Trump manages to implement any of his healthcare "reforms," people are going to die. They are going to die deaths that would be preventable--that are being prevented now--because they won't be able to afford the medical care they need. This isn't exaggeration, as I hope you already know; a Harvard study in 2009 found that 45,000 people died annually because of lack of healthcare. If President Trump and his supporters succeed, those numbers will increase--and many of the people dying preventable deaths are going to be people who voted to elect you to the U. S. Senate. I am writing in the hopes that your loyalty to your constituents is greater than your loyalty to your party. I am writing in the hopes that you can see that the Republican leadership, including President Trump and his Cabinet, are not acting in the best interests of the people who elected them, the people whom they promised to govern under the auspices of the U. S. Constitution.
If we believe, as the Declaration of Independence says, that all men (and women) are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, surely that means that all men and women are entitled to health care that is both adequate and affordable. The ACA provides that care, and repealing it out of party politics that are, frankly, petty, spiteful, and deeply inappropriate to our government, is both ethically and morally wrong. I don't usually make statements like that, but for me there is no nuance left in this situation. The repeal of the ACA will kill millions of people, and I might very well be one of them.
As one of the citizens whose Constitutional rights you are sworn to uphold, I am asking you to support the ACA and to vote against any effort to repeal it, undercut it, or destroy the safety it provides to all American citizens.
Thank you.
[anyone wanting to use one of my letters as a template is welcome to do so]
