Advocates for Health Care Mark Affordable Care Act’s 8th Anniversary By Calling Out Virginia Beach Republicans for Health Care Obstruction

8 years after the ACA became law, Scott Taylor, Frank Wagner, and Bill DeSteph are still working to undermine it

Virginia Beach, Virginia—Friday morning, health care advocates gathered to mark the 8th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act while highlighting the conservative politicians who are still working to undermine affordable access for our families. Since the ACA became law 8 years ago, 20 million Americans have gained health care coverage under the law. Despite its impact, local politicians Scott Taylor, Frank Wagner, and Bill DeSteph have been united in their opposition to affordable health care for Virginia families.

Because of the Affordable Care Act, 62.4 million women are saving money on birth control and more women than ever have access to maternity care, allowing them to make decisions about how and when to start a family on their own terms. In October of 2017, the Trump Administration announced that it would rollback the ACA’s birth control mandate and slash funding for Title X, which provides free contraception and other family planning services for approximately 4 million low-income families nationwide, gutting women’s ability to access affordable, dependable family planning services.

“Health care is a basic human right, and it is unacceptable that conservatives are still blocking their constituents from seeing a doctor when they need to,” Anna Scholl, Executive Director of Progress Virginia said. “Virginia families deserve to be represented by people who will fight for their right to affordable health care, not spend 8 years trying to block it.”

“My friend Autumn, one of Scott Taylor constituents, started her period at 11 and had heavy bleeding, intense nausea, and cramps so debilitating she would need to miss school for days at time. It wasn’t until six years later that she was finally able to gain access to a birth control option that would help manage her chronic pain,” Katharine Goodwin, Deputy Field Coordinator for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia and 2nd district constituent said. “If Congressman Taylor and President Trump were successful at stripping away the Affordable Care Act and the provision for No Cost Birth Control, Autumn would struggle to afford her birth control pills from month to month, jeopardizing her ability to excel at her job and lead a happy life.”

Congressman Scott Taylor has repeatedly voted to repeal the ACA. His  alternative would have left 51 million people without health insurance by 2026. State Senators Frank Wagner and Bill DeSteph are holding up Medicaid expansion in the state Senate and blocking up to 400,000 Virginians from accessing quality, affordable care. The General Assembly reconvenes on April 11 to vote on a budget and decide if it will include Medicaid Expansion. Pictures from the event can be found here. A livestream of the event can be found here.