On March 20, nurses from Ascension Seton Medical Center will protest at U.S. Senator John Cornyn's district office in Austin, Texas. The demonstration is organized by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) to oppose proposed Medicaid cuts that could impact health care services in the area.

Monica Gonzalez, a registered nurse at ASMCA, said, "It is the moral choice to ensure that all Texans have access to the care they so desperately need, which is why we are calling on Sen. Cornyn to preserve health care funding." She emphasized that if Senator Cornyn supports tax cuts for billionaires over patient care, communities would face significant losses.

The protest highlights concerns about $57.3 billion in Medicaid funding at risk if these cuts proceed. Vanessa Villarreal, another RN at ASMCA, remarked on the potential impacts of such cuts: "Our patients who would face the worst impacts from the proposed reckless cuts are the elderly, the disabled, and the young."

The event will take place at Sen. Cornyn’s district office located at 221 West Sixth Street, Suite 1350 in Austin from 1:30–2:00 p.m. CT.

According to data from 2023, more than one in five people in the U.S. had health care coverage funded by Medicaid. In states like California and New York, this figure was even higher.

National Nurses United represents over 225,000 members across various state associations including those in California and New York.

Information from this article can be found here.