A group comprised of clergy and others opposed to the "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed last week in Congress will march to U.S. Rep. Tim Moore's office in Gastonia on July 14.
According to a press release from the group organizing the march, Repairers of the Breach, the group will "deliver a casket to the office of Rep. Tim Moore to represent the lives in North Carolina that will be lost as a result of 307,000 residents losing Medicaid."
The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passed the U.S. House of Representatives on July 3 with a vote of 218-214. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law July 4. Moore and all other N.C. Republicans in the U.S. House voted in favor of the bill.Â
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 11.8 million people nationwide will lose health insurance due to reductions to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. The bill cuts Medicaid funding by $1 trillion through 2034.Â
Repairers of the Breach has organized events in Washington, D.C., to protest the bill. Some in the group, including First United Methodist Church of Taylorsville pastor Joel Simpson, have been arrested at the U.S. Capitol building while speaking out against the bill.
"This budget is a massive harm to poor and low-income people all around N.C.," Simpson said in the press release. "Experts say 307,000 people will lose Medicaid. Impacted people are upset. I've talked with people whose parents are in nursing homes, parents who are caring for children and aging parents at home. ... Congress cannot pass this budget and simply wash their hands of the harm and suffering it will cause.
"Jesus blesses the poor, but Congress is cursing them."Â
The event is part of the Moral Mondays movement, organized by Bishop William J. Barber II.
Demonstrations are planned for 10 Congressional offices around the country on Monday.Â
The event in Gastonia will begin at 11 a.m. outside the Gaston County Courthouse before the group marches to Moore's office.Â
