The Stories team at the Center for American Progress Action Fund works with storytellers who author op-eds about how policy impacts their lives. The team helps elevate their op-eds.
When Donald Trump became president, his chief domestic policy priority was repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which would have ripped health care away from tens of millions of Americans, increased the cost of health insurance, and allowed insurers to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. While he famously came up one vote short in successfully repealing the health care law, he’s increasingly defining his presidential priorities in events like his recent town hall, and in a speech in Iowa, he notably vowed to attack the ACA again if elected.
In the spring of 2017, I graduated from college and moved to Washington, D.C., to start what I hoped would be a successful, purpose-driven career. I had secured a position as a national organizing intern at Planned Parenthood, which was facing one of its greatest challenges to date—then-President Trump and the Republican controlled-Congress’ efforts to repeal the ACA. For months, I put my whole self into this fight—organizing advocates and building campaigns with rallies, phone banks, marches, and testimonies. Little did I know that my advocacy would be about much more than a snapshot of job experience—it would also save my life.
The above excerpt was originally published in Newsweek.
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