Ahead of First Presidential Debate, Health Care Practitioners, Georgians with Pre-Existing Conditions Call Out Attacks on Health Care

ATLANTA – Today, ahead of the first presidential debate, the Democratic Party of Georgia held a virtual press conference where Georgians called out Trump’s failed leadership on health care and its dangerous impact for America. 

Watch the full video from the press conference here. 

“There is a lot at stake right now, and it’s really important that we focus on healthcare as one of our most important issues – and the most important healthcare issue of our time right now is COVID,” said Melanie Thompson, a physician from Atlanta. “We’ve never seen a federal government fail at this scale in the past. We have a president now who knew this respiratory virus was easily transmissible in the air, who undercut the value of face masks sidelining scientists and damaging our major institutions like the CDC and the FDA.”

“Instead of taking action to make healthcare more affordable and accessible during this pandemic, Trump has nominated someone to the Supreme Court who is going to vote against the Affordable Care Act and take Medicaid expansion off the table as an option for Georgians,” said Joyce Barlow, registered nurse and Democratic nominee for Georgia House District 151. “We are suffering severely here in rural Georgia because we have a President – and Georgia Republicans – who choose to put partisan politics before the healthcare of the people of Georgia.”

“We’re in the midst of a pandemic that has taken the lives of 7,000 Georgians and 205,000 Americans, but Donald Trump and Mike Pence are still doing everything they can to take away our health insurance, including nominating someone to the Supreme Court who opposes the ACA,” said Leela Waller, a minister with a pre-existing condition. “As someone who preaches compassion and love, it is obscene and cruel to me that a leader would do this.”

“I take 10 medications a day, I see multiple specialists, but I am currently in grad school at UGA getting two Master’s Degrees and I am able to do this because I have healthcare,” said Kellye Call, a Georgian with pre-existing conditions. “If Donald Trump and Mike Pence get their way and their Supreme Court nominee votes to overturn the Affordable Care Act, so much of my life – and the lives of millions of others with pre-existing conditions – will be irreparably damaged.” 

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