On ACA Anniversary, Health-Care Advocates Say ‘#WeFightBack’

Lauryn Gutierrez
Several hundred people joined together at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., for the #WeFightBack protest on the seventh anniversary of the ACA. Organized by the Center for Popular Democracy, the march moved from the Trump International Hotel to the White House to demand health-care coverage for all communities nationwide. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
People gathered from different parts of the country to protest the GOP's health plan to replace the ACA. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
A protester listens to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) speak at the rally before the march. Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union, also spoke at the rally. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
Many march signs expressed disapproval of the GOP's health plan and modus operandi. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
Protesters at the #WeFightBack rally in Freedom Plaza. Trump International Hotel is visible in the distance. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
After the march reached the White House, law enforcement moved to break up the crowd. Officers had partitioned the sidewalk off from public access, and protesters were forced behind a fence and caution tape. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
Twenty-four individuals—a number meant to signify the 24 million people who could lose their health insurance with the repeal of the ACA—who remained on the sidewalk risked arrest in violation of D.C. code, which prohibits "loitering" on the sidewalk in front of the White House. A man who refused to move submitted to arrest while wearing a sign that read "Save Our Healthcare." Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
Protesters cheered on those who peacefully submitted to arrest by U.S. Park police. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
A protester arrested on the sidewalk in front of the White House waited quietly in a police van, while another protester was lead to the van. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
A woman protesting the GOP health plan held a sign that read, "I'm proud that my taxes heal the sick." Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
The few remaining protesters watched as one of their companions was arrested and led away. The crowd behind the police barricade chanted, "What side are you on, my people, what side are you on?" Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire
#WeFightBack protesters danced as they chanted, "Move, Trump, get out the way. Get out the way, Trump. Get out the way," outside the White House. Lauryn Gutierrez/Rewire

Health-care advocates gathered yesterday at Freedom Plaza to mark the seven-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), his signature health-care reform law. Rewire was on the scene as #WeFightBack advocates marched from the plaza to the White House, stopping first at the Trump International Hotel, in protest against the GOP’s attempt to repeal the law, commonly referred to as Obamacare.

House Republican leaders on Friday afternoon pulled their health bill, titled the American Health Care Act, which could have left 24 million people without heath-care coverage by 2026.