Several hundred protesters gathered to fight for their rights on Jan. 13, huddled with their umbrellas in the rain on the steps of Georgia’s state Capitol.
“Forward together, not one step back,” is the motto of a movement, founded in North Carolina. Known as Moral Monday, the movement has recently received a lot of attention and is beginning to spread across state borders. Jan. 13 was the first of several rallies that will be launched by Moral Monday supporters in Atlanta.
The Moral Monday movement fights for legislative and public-policy issues to improve the lives of the lower class and minorities. Several of the group’s issues include public education, voting rights, abortion rights and tax changes. Supporters stand against all forms of discrimination and fight for what they feel will make a positive change for the community.
“It’s a bunch of progressive people coming together saying, ‘Yes, we are progressive, yes we are moral, and we are doing this for the right reasons,’” said Em Elliotte, an activist who participated in the first Atlanta Moral Monday rally.
Since last summer, hundreds of these activists have been arrested for their non-violent protests.
“The goal of Moral Monday is to dramatize the shameful condition of our state,” said Rev. William Barber, the founder of Moral Monday and head of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.
Inspired by the many people rallying in North Carolina, Georgians have gathered to support the movement. Moral Monday protesters support several different issues, but they are currently focusing on providing more citizens with Medicaid, a health insurance program that provides basic health coverage to various citizens such as the elderly, low-income parents and people struggling with disabilities.
Through the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, Georgia could expand Medicaid to cover more low-income and impoverished Georgians at the federal government’s expense. The Georgia Medicaid program currently covers 1.7 million people. With the expansion, about 650,000 more Georgians would be eligible for Medicaid, but Gov. Nathan Deal made the announcement that he will not move forward with the expansion.
Georgia is not alone. North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida also decided not to move forward with the expansion. Deal says that he won’t expand because he doubts that the federal government will be able to continue to fund the program, and the expense will fall on the state, which it can’t afford. On Feb. 14, House GOP representatives introduced a bill that would give the power to expand Medicaid to the Legislature, instead of Deal. Many consider it the most important bill of 2014, but some agree with Deal that the expansion would have negative effects. According to the Georgia Accountability Office, Obamacare will increase the federal debt by $6.2 trillion in the long term. Despite these predictions many politicians support the expansion, including Georgia state Sen. Vincent Fort, who is an avid supporter of Moral Monday.
Since the first Moral Monday protest in Georgia, several supporters have been arrested, including Fort. On Jan. 28, 10 activists were arrested in Deal’s office while attempting to give him a letter listing the consequences of not expanding Medicaid. The protesters refused to leave the office until Deal received their letter.
After they still refused to exit after the Capitol’s closing time, the protesters were handcuffed and arrested.
“I really personally believe that health care is basic human right,” said Tracey Jenson, an activist in the movement. “The fact that Gov. Deal has chosen to basically turn down money from the federal government in order to expand Medicaid in Georgia and provide health care for thousands and thousands of Georgians that really can’t afford it, is wrong.”
Jenson protested on Jan. 20 along with her daughter and hundreds of other Georgians. Figures from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 15 percent of Americans didn’t have access to health care last year, and because of their state’s legislative decisions involving the issue, some of these people have decided to take a stand.
“I don’t have health insurance, so this is really close to my heart,” Jenson said. “My daughter has health insurance through PeachCare for kids, but I personally can’t afford it.”
When it comes to access to health care, Georgia ranks among the bottom of all states. Approximately 20 percent of Georgians, or 2 million, lack health coverage. Without this coverage, many of these people will have to rely on occasional trips to free clinics and emergency rooms for health problems.
“Every Monday we come together at the state Capitol to tell Gov. Deal and the state legislature to do the right thing by Georgians,” Fort said. “We’ve got to fight like someone’s life depended on it, because guess what? It does.”
According to Georgia State University’s analysis of the economic impact of the expansion, more than 3,600 Georgian lives could be saved annually and nearly 70,000 jobs could be created.
