Progressive activist Ady Barkan, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on Tuesday gave a powerful address at the Democratic National Convention on Joe Biden as president, calling Donald Trump an ‘existential threat’ and demanding access to quality care for all Americans.
Health care is expected to come from voters ahead of the November election, which was halted by the coronavirus pandemic that killed more than 170,000 people, infected more than 5.4 million people and left millions unemployed left, many without health leave insurance.
“We live in the richest country in history and yet we do not guarantee this most basic human right,” Barkan said. “Everyone living in America needs to get the health care they need, regardless of their work status or ability to pay.”
Barkan is a leading proponent of Medicare for All, a policy promoted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ plan to establish a universal health insurance system in the US.
Biden, who was formally nominated as the Democrats’ choice for president in the second night of the convention on Tuesday, campaigned for the improvement and extension of the Affordable Care Act, as Obamacare, but supports Medicare for All net.
However, as the coronavirus pandemic and its economic downturn continue to destroy communities, Biden has links to health care.
Despite Barkan losing his vote because of ALS and testifying before Congress with eye movements, Americans are threatening to vote for Biden. to prevent the “existential threat of another four years from this president”.
“Even during this terrible crisis, Donald Trump and Republican politicians are trying to take away millions of people’s health insurance,” Barkan said.
‘We have to choose Joe Biden. Each of us must be a hero to our communities, to our country, and then we must, together with a compassionate and intelligent president, act together and put an account in his office that guarantees us all the health care we deserve. ”
In an interview before his speech aired Tuesday night, Barkan told the New York Times that there was “work to be done” to “persuade Democratic leadership to change perspective” on health care.
“I support Medicare for All and Joe Biden obviously does not,” he said. “Many Democratic voters agree with me, as evidenced by the overwhelming support in the primary polls. And the pandemic and depression have proved how dangerous it is to ban insurance from employment. ”
The Democratic convention, which has been radically scaled back and moved almost entirely online, has repeatedly sought to promote a message of unity among liberals, progressives, moderates and even Republicans.
Barkan was diagnosed with ALS in 2016, at 32 years old. He was not widely known outside of progressive circles until he met former Senator Jeff Arizona in Arizona on a flight from Phoenix to Washington and threatened Flake not to vote for the Republican tax plan. Barkan told Flake about his medical condition and said the tax authorities are threatening drastic cuts to the federal program for disability he is caring for.
Flake eventually voted for the mate, but the exchange raised Barkan’s profile. His group, the Center for Popular Democracy, set up the ‘Be a Hero’ campaign to prepare Democrats for the midterms. A profile in Politico called Barkan the ‘most powerful activist in America’.
“I am hopeful about the future of this country, because now there is a mass movement of people from all over the country, rising up,” he told the Guardian in 2019.
‘Nurses, doctors, patients, carers, family members – we all advocate that there is a better way to structure our society, a better way to take care of each other, a better way to spend our precious time together. If we do the work, we will build the better world our families deserve. ”
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