The events of Sunday, October 1st in Las Vegas are disturbing and tragic, with details unfolding as we can get them to what provoked this terror attack killing over 50 and injuring over 400 at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival near the Mandalay Bay Casino. Progressive Maryland’s Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare Campaign will host a candlelight vigil for the victims and injured, followed by a rally for healthcare demanding solutions.
“Hundreds of people lost a loved one in this obscene act. The hundreds of injured people, in addition to the risk to their lives and health, are now potentially being thrown into never-ending medical debt – because they were at a music festival,” states Beth Landry, RN, Progressive Maryland’s Healthcare Organizer. “Everyone is a patient. It’s just a matter of when. A car accident, an animal bite, or a bullet from an assault rifle are now everyday realities of this nation. With the exact inspiration of the attack in Las Vegas still unknown, it is absolutely essential that mental health be a requirement of the coverage every American is guaranteed to, for prevention and remediation.”
In addition to mourning victims of domestic terror, Progressive Maryland is monitoring conservatives such as Representative Andy Harris (MD CD 1), who are trying to pass another massive tax cut package for the wealthy and corporations paid for by cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, education, and other services for working families in the 2018 Federal budget. So much concentration was placed on repealing our current system that Congress missed the deadline to reauthorize CHIP – healthcare that 9 million children rely on nationwide.
None of these proposed pieces of legislation have been worth the paper they’re printed on. Elected officials like Governor Hogan and Representative Harris do not offer the solutions that Maryland residents need, and DESERVE! While our Governor is occasionally offering lukewarm statements that we should all be playing in the sandbox together, Rep. Harris is fighting tooth and nail to reroute money for the healthcare of his constituents to the pockets of his donors and corporations. Neither of these strategies remotely benefit Marylanders. We are speaking out for every elected official in our state to do what is best for the people. We are the people we are waiting for to do what is right. The answer is not GUTTING the ACA to give tax breaks to the rich and corporations to jeopardize healthcare for children, people with disabilities, the elderly, veterans, and more.
After the candlelight vigil, a rally demanding healthcare solutions with speakers letting us know how important our continued advocacy in these times for ourselves, our friends and family, neighbors and communities is.
Speakers to include: Allison Galbraith, Candidate for MD CD 1; Andrew Duck, Candidate for MD CD 6; Mike Hersh, Communications Director of Progressive Democrats of America; Healthcare is a Human Right – Maryland; Dr. Nadia Hashimi, ER Pediatrician/Author; Jared Schablein, President of the Lower Shore Progressive Caucus; Charles Smith, Progressive Maryland Prince George’s Fair Elections Fellow.
More to be announced soon.
- What: 6:00- 6:30 pm Candlelight Vigil for Las Vegas
- Followed by 6:30-7:30 pm “The World As It Should Be!”: A Rally Demanding Healthcare Solutions
- When: Saturday, October 7th, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
- Where: Lawyer’s Mall, Annapolis 21401
- Who: Co-Sponsored by Progressive Maryland and Take Action Anne Arundel County, as well as endorsed by Anne Arundel County Indivisible and March on Maryland.
