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Today’s vote in the U.S. Senate wasn’t about a particular version of health care – there isn’t one – but about taking up the debate nonetheless.
The fate of accessible, affordable, accountable, and inclusive health care still hangs in the balance. Several Senators we thought were on the side of the people may still be – but it will take our voices united to improve, not kill, health care.
Our message should go to our own Senators, but it should also go to our friends, families, other congregations where that vote is more vulnerable than it is in California. Make contacting your circle of loved ones as much a priority as contacting your Senators. Please forward this message to them.
Without a written bill, we have no way to know what our future holds. This process violates decades of legislative standards – no bill, no mark up in committee, no debate, no public hearings. We must, therefore, assert that our demands as citizens is that we preserve and improve what we already have. The Affordable Care Act is not in a death spiral – it is being strangled by Congressional and Executive acts that remove funding without due process and against the Constitution.
Our message should be clear:
“Hi. My name is [name]. I live in [city, state]. I am a constituent of the senator and want him/her to vote no on any bill or amendment that takes health care away from people. I am a (put your faith alliance here), and my faith leads me to want more health care for people, not less. We must have a health care program that is affordable, accessible, inclusive. We must improve not destroy the gains this nation has made in saving lives and improving health. Please give the senator my message. Thank you.”
Healing the sick, restoring wholeness, was Jesus’ first commandment to his disciples. In Matthew 10 he makes abundantly clear that they are to offer this as the first step in their presence within any community. It was not reserved for the few; it was mandated for the many.
For your Faithful Five Minutes every day, please call your Senators at 202-224-3121. You will have to call twice to leave messages for both.
If you prefer to FAX or call your district office, please go to our link: http://www.churchimpact.org/take-action.html
If you prefer to send a Text, on you cell phone go to 50409 and follow the prompts both to set up a contact list of legislators and to send a message to them.
Then please share this with others especially outside your own state. This is important, and it may well be our last chance to save Medicaid, ACA, and CHIP as well as protect all other health insurance costs and coverage.
We cannot go backwards to the days where naked individualism allowed us not to care about one another. If we in the faith community want to keep moving toward the promise of a just society, it rests on us to have our voices heard clearly and often.
Thank you for all you do. It matters!