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U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham Rushes to Confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court, Refuses to Protect Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions

By October 12, 2020No Comments

Judiciary Committee member U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has made his opposition to the Affordable Care Act crystal clear by voting time and again to repeal the health care law and by supporting California v. Texas, the Trump administration’s lawsuit to completely dismantle the health care law. If successful, the lawsuit would throw our entire health care system into chaos by ripping away health care from more than 20 million Americans and ending protections for more than 135 million people with pre-existing conditions, all in the middle of an ever-worsening pandemic. Senate Republicans are rushing to confirm anti-ACA Judge Amy Coney Barrett in hopes she will help them accomplish their decade-long goal of eliminating the law — and the protections it provides for Americans — when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in California v. Texas one week after the election. 

What’s At Stake If The Supreme Court Overturns The ACA

If Trump’s lawsuit to overturn the ACA is successful, 288,000 South Carolinians would lose coverage. 

Without the ACA, 2,027,400 South Carolinians with pre-existing conditions could be charged more or denied coverage altogether. 

A Walk Down Memory Lane: Senator Graham And The ACA

Graham has voted FOUR TIMES to fully repeal the ACA.

2019: Graham Vowed To Repeal The ACA If Republicans Are Elected In 2020: “We’ve Got To Remind People That We’re Not For Obamacare.” “ Echoing Trump’s critique of why they failed, Graham noted that ‘we were one vote short in the Senate’ — an apparent reference to his late best friend and fellow Republican senator, John McCain. Trump continues to disparage McCain (Ariz.) for his thumbs-down vote on a skinny-repeal bill in 2017 that killed momentum for Republicans trying to do away with the Obama legacy law as they had been promising to do for seven years. ‘We’ve got to remind people that we’re not for Obamacare,’ Graham said in the radio interview. ‘If we can get the House back and keep our majority in the Senate, and President Trump wins reelection, I can promise you not only are we going to repeal Obamacare, we’re going to do it in a smart way where South Carolina will be the biggest winner,’ Graham said.” [Washington Post, 8/9/19

2013: Graham On The ACA: “This Bill Sucks.” “Senator Lindsey Graham had some colorful words Monday for President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act. ‘This bill sucks, it really does,’ Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer.” [Politico, 9/23/13

2012: Graham Called The ACA “A Big Effin Mess.” “U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today said the second anniversary of Obama health care being signed into law was not a cause for celebration, but a chance to examine the ‘broken promises’ that have become clear from the law. He was joined at a press conference in Greenville by South Carolinians who have concerns about the effects of Obama health care on the operation of their business. ‘Two years ago at the Obama health care bill signing the Vice President was overheard telling President Obama, ‘This is a big ‘effing’ deal,’’ said Graham. ‘Unfortunately for them, two years later, the vast majority of Americans believe this has become a big ‘effing’ mess.’” [Sen. Lindsey Graham Press Release, 3/23/12