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Is Obamacare Repealed Yet? …No

We, the pro-life movement, have fought so hard these past seven years to get rid of Obamacare. We’ve called our leaders, kept them accountable, and now – we are the closest we have ever been to taking this abortion-supporting and healthcare-rationing law down.

So is Obamacare repealed yet? Sadly, no.

Wisconsin Right to Life has been monitoring this effort to repeal Obamacare amendment by amendment since Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Vice President Mike Pence cast the key votes on Tuesday to open debate on this important subject.

Here’s the highlights of what has happened since:

Tuesday

The Better Care Reconciliation Act is updated and still retains some pro-life language. Since there wasn’t sufficient time to get a cost estimate for the bill by the Congressional Budget Office, 60 votes for the bill were required for passage. Because of this, there were not enough votes for passage and the bill failed.

Wednesday

A slew of various amendments to the reconciliation bill were proposed and failed to pass. Among them was an amendment by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to force Congress to be under the same Obamacare regulations as the rest of America so they understand how dire the situation is to live under that law. Also among the various failed amendments was the Obamacare Reconciliation Repeal Act which would repeal most of Obamacare without a replacement.

Thursday

Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) introduces an amendment (the “Strange Amendment”) which would extend Hyde protections to the reconciliation bill to prevent taxpayer dollars from covering abortions through tax credits. Since this bill had no cost estimate, 60 votes were required for passage. Every Democrat, including Republicans Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted against this measure. However, this amendment received the most Republican support of any measure since the debate began, with 50 Republicans voting yes.

Friday

Very early this morning, the “Skinny Repeal” bill that would at least defund Planned Parenthood for a year failed. Republicans Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) along with all Democrats voted against this measure. We heard reports that Vice President Mike Pence was on the Senate floor late last night and early this morning doing everything within his power to convince Senators to act. President Trump even made a call to Sen. John McCain in the hopes of convincing him to vote for the Skinny Repeal.

After hours of grueling debate and the final failed passage, Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) openly lamented the lack of action and closed debate.

So….what now?

Like I said before, this is the closest we have ever been to taking Obamacare down. However, this week was incredibly disappointing. What we have to do now is keep the pressure on.

Call Sen. Ron Johnson at 202-224-5323 to thank him for taking action and to urge him to keep up the fight. We need to have an Obamacare repeal that has pro-life language!

Call Sen. Tammy Baldwin at 202-224-5653 and urge her to support an Obamacare repeal with pro-life language!

Thank you for all that you do!

-Chelsea (Shields) Duffy, Legislative/PAC Director, WRTL

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