FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 30, 2023
CONTACT: Sara Loflin, Executive Director at [email protected]
DENVER: Responding to the decision by a conservative federal judge today striking down no-cost access to preventive care services Americans have enjoyed for years under the Affordable Care Act, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest multi-issue progressive advocacy organization, condemned this overreaching decision by a Trump-appointed judicial activist that will needlessly cost lives.
“Today’s decision attacking Obamacare further demonstrates that right-wing Republican judges and Trump political operatives want to prevent patients from accessing the health care and early detection screenings they need to save lives,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Sara Loflin. “As a cancer survivor, I reject the claim by Donald Trump, the GOP and the justices he appointed to be ‘pro life’–or fiscally responsible when it comes to Americans’ health care. Americans will die if this decision is allowed to stand.”
“We are in a maternal mortality crisis, and this judge just struck down the Affordable Care Act requirement for pre-eclampsia screening and prevention, a deadly condition in which a pregnant woman’s blood pressure spikes,” said Loflin. “Cardiovascular issues are the number one cause of maternal mortality, and Black women are three to four times more likely to die from them.”
“US District Judge Reed O’Connor also struck down preventative coverage for contraception and HIV drugs, siding with the bigots, including former Trump official Stephen Miller and Texas bounty hunter abortion ban architect Jonathan Mitchell, who filed this lawsuit,” said Loflin. “Early detection of things like breast cancer, HIV, and cardiovascular problems for pregnant people saves lives and money. Early detection means less invasive, less expensive treatment.”
“Today’s ruling demonstrates that the GOP led by people like Rep. Lauren Boebert and right-wing judges don’t care about protecting life, but rather about political revenge on President Obama, LGBTQIA Americans, communities of color, and anyone who needs and deserves reproductive health care,” said Loflin. “This is a clear case of legislating through the courts to overturn the will of the voters, and it should not be allowed to stand.”
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