FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
June 12, 2020
Contact: Nikki Metzgar
(202) 599-7642 / nmetzgar@napawf.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Trump administration released its final rule to remove discrimination protections under the “Health Care Rights Law,” or Section 1557, of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a provision that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or language proficiency. Section 1557 ensured that historically discriminated against communities — immigrants, LGBTQ folks, and people with disabilities — were not locked out from accessing health care.

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum Executive Director Sung Yeon Choimorrow issued the following statement in response: 

“Over the past week, the President has decried the nationwide protests against police brutality as ‘violent.’ What is violent is his administration dismantling critical protections for people seeking health care at a time like this, when we are battling a pandemic. Robbing communities of vital medical care on the basis of our very existence during a public health emergency is violence against communities who have a shared history of discrimination. 

This rule means that any of us may be refused needed health care because of who we love, where we come from, or what language we speak. Health care discrimination has happened to Asian American and Pacific Islander women and other people of color throughout this country’s history, often on the basis of more than one intersecting facet of our identity. This is another attack on our civil rights.”

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The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.