MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – Dozens of activists picketed outside of Tidelands Hospital on Sunday in protest of recent efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Demonstrators gathered on the intersection of Hwy 17 Bypass South and Riverwood Drive, carrying signs demanding “Medicare for All” and for the new administration to uphold Obamacare. Carol Coney is a member of the advocacy group People Demanding Action and one of the organizers of the rally. She says she wrote a letter to the President-elect on Election Day because she was so concerned about the future of her family’s healthcare. It reads, “Dear President Elect Trump, I’m a South Carolina senior citizen who hopes you will retain Medicare in its current form since my husband has Parkinson’s he and I have paid into the system all our lives and have no pensions. I’ll be 65 in February and hope Medicare will be there for me.”
Protesters like Dawn Pellar and Beverly Sullivan say they receive health coverage from their employers but felt it was important to stand up for those who do not have the same privilege. “I want to protect what’s right in the ACA. The things that are working. I want to protect the things that are in there for families and for women,” says Pellar. “I had a neighbor who lost her house because she didn’t have insurance. And I do believe that in this country, no one should have to lose their house because they can’t pay medical bills,” says Sullivan.
As many celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr this weekend, demonstrators say they too were carrying on his message today.“The denial of healthcare, according to Martin Luther King, is the worst form of cruelty. I see this as a God-given right, life liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” says Coker College sociology professor Mal Hyman.
Coney says the future of the Affordable Care Acts impacts people belonging to all political parties. “We’re really hoping that people who voted for Donald Trump but also are in the economic category where they may lose benefits, we’re hoping that they join us and demand action and call their senators.”
