'Kill the Bill, Don't Kill Us!': Protests Erupt as McConnell Begins Trumpcare Vote

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As the Senate prepared to vote on a motion to proceed to a debate over the Republican plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, chants of “Kill the Bill!” and “Shame!” erupted from protesters in the Senate gallery.

It was unclear what bill the Senate would be debating should the Republicans win the vote, but according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, either a “straight repeal” of Obamacare or a scaled-back version of the GOP’s plan to replace the ACA would cut health coverage for 22 to 32 million Americans.

Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) became the latest lawmakers to announce that they would vote in favor of the motion to proceed on Tuesday.

But a number of so-called moderate Republican senators who have expressed concerns about Trumpcare in recent weeks, were still being targeted by protesters who demanded “no” votes on any effort to repeal the ACA.

Disability rights activists rallied on Capitol Hill, steps from where the vote would take place.

Demonstrators representing Planned Parenthood and other groups arrived at the West Virginia office of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) at 7:00 AM on Tuesday, demanding that she reject Trumpcare, which could cost more than 118,000 West Virginians their health coverage.

Think Progress reported that a busload of protesters gathered at 5:30 AM on Tuesday to travel to the Washington, D.C.-area home of Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), another holdout, who reportedly struck a deal that would add $100 billion dollars in additional Medicaid funding to one of the repeal-and-replace bills.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were the last remaning holdouts as Republicans met behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon. All three senators were the targets of pleas from constituents on Twitter, asking them to vote “no.”

Via Common Dreams. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license.