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The Women's March Will Take On Health Care By Demonstrating In The Streets

by Seth Millstein
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

The Women's March organized one of the first nationwide protests against Donald Trump's presidency the day after the inauguration, and it's remained a mobilizing force for the progressives ever since. Now, the Women's March is rallying against the Republican health care bill currently languishing in the Senate, encouraging supporters to "show up on a busy street corner" on Saturday and "make some noise" about the GOP bill.

The organizers introduced the reasoning behind the march in hopes they will attract participants from all corners of the nation:

Congress is working to take away health coverage from 22 million Americans by repealing Obamacare. It will hurt everyone by stealing insurance, but women, transgender people, and marginalized communities will be hit the hardest. Republicans will soon vote on dropping coverage for mothers, people with disabilities, working families, and anyone who is vulnerable.

Although our protests scared them away from voting this week, Senate Republicans have been vowing to destroy Obamacare for years and they will be back!

The Women's March is one of many groups partnering with Our Lives On The Line, a pro-Obamacare group that's helping to mobilize support against the Republican bill. In many cities, organizers have already planned protests for Saturday; you can see a list of them here, and if there are none in your area, you can organize your own local event with this form here.

The Republican health care bill has appeared to die many deaths in Congress, and yet the GOP is still attempting to resurrect it, with party leaders hoping that enough Republican Senators who currently oppose the bill can be convinced to change their mind.

The original version of Obamacare repeal that the Senate planned to vote on would have stripped health care from 22 million Americans over the next ten years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. When it was clear that the bill lacked the votes to pass, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate will instead vote on a "clean" repeal bill — one that does away with the Affordable Care Act and doesn't replace it with anything. However, the CBO found that a clean repeal bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 30 million over the next decade.

Regardless of whether Republicans enact a new bill, many Americans don't want to see Obamacare go.

"That's what we're about — showing that whoever we are, wherever we live, we will persist, together, in preventing this administration from harming us, our families, and vulnerable people in our communities," the Women's March organizers wrote in the press release.

As of this writing, the Senate is set to vote on a health care bill on Tuesday, but it's not clear which version will be brought up for a vote, according to The Hill.