“The crusade to kill affordable, quality health care for millions of Americans has been a disgraceful chapter in the history of the US Congress. Goaded on by President Donald Trump, the latest attack on American health care, which thankfully failed in the wee hours of July 28, would have fatally and intentionally undermined the insurance market and eliminated minimum standards of essential care that insurance would have to provide to all comers. The 15 million Americans projected to lose coverage under this bill as insurance costs soar have gained a significant reprieve, even though the majority of Americans who support a strong government role in assuring comprehensive health care cannot rest easy.

“Efforts to kill the Affordable Care Act are universally rejected by majorities in every state and every major group of patients, doctors, and insurance companies. Community hospitals across rural America are at risk of closing altogether without the support provided by current law. The persistence of these efforts defies all reason and morality at this point.

“The bill failed because the grassroots opposition never gave up, never gave in, and never let down its guard. As Jews we in NCJW are called to value every human life and this bill devalued the lives of millions. We must continue in that moral spirit as the Trump administration contemplates independent action to fatally undermine the inner workings of the Affordable Care Act. NCJW calls on the president and Congress to abandon their declared mission of destruction and join instead in bipartisan efforts to correct the remaining problems in our national health care system in an open and deliberative process.”