Rep. Lawrence Statement on Oral Arguments in California Vs. Texas, Case to Dismantle Affordable Care Act

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 -- Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Michigan, issued the following statement:

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Today, U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14) issued the following statement as the United States Supreme Court hears oral argument in California v. Texas, a case that represents the latest effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act:

"For nearly a decade, Republicans in Congress and across the country have sought to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the protections it provides for millions of Americans. Republicans are asking the court to disregard precedent for the sole purpose of eliminating protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and stripping more than 20 million Americans of access to health insurance coverage, including the millions of low-income individuals who gained coverage through the Act's Medicaid expansion. While these actions would be heartless at any time, it is particularly unconscionable that, in the midst of a global pandemic that has now infected more than 10 million Americans, Republicans are standing in court to kick millions of Americans off their health insurance and remove the very protections that prevent insurers from discriminating against individuals who contract COVID-19.

"As a co-chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, I have continued to work with my colleagues to protect access to comprehensive and quality health care for women, work that would be significantly undone if the is ACA struck down. Insurance companies would once again be able to charge women more for their health insurance solely because of their gender, to deny coverage of critical preventative services, and consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition. As our country continues to face a maternal mortality crisis--especially for women of color--eliminating the ACA would allow insurance companies to treat maternity, newborn, and preventative care services such as well-woman visits, mammograms, and cervical cancer screenings, as a luxury rather than the lifesaving interventions they are.

"For years, Republicans have claimed they have a plan to 'repeal and replace' the ACA, however we have yet to see one. Instead, President Trump has made several promises to protect the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions, all the while instructing his Department of Justice to remove those very same protections by backing this lawsuit. Only weeks after Justice Ginsburg's passing, President Trump and Republican Senators refused to work with my colleagues and I to provide vital assistance in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; instead, they chose to ram a Supreme Court nominee through the Senate in an unprecedented confirmation process. Since joining Congress, I have worked with my Democratic colleagues to preserve, protect, and strengthen the ACA to ensure all Americans have access to quality and affordable health care; I would urge my Republican colleagues to put the healthcare of Americans above their petty attempts to strip protections from millions of Americans without providing a meaningful plan to replace them."