Politics
Several dozen disabled people were forcibly removed and arrested by police during a protest over the a Senate health care bill outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office on Thursday.McConnell unveiled the bill the same day. The Republican-led effort was largely seen as negatively impacting some of the most vulnerable Americans.
The protesters shouted chants like "don't touch Medicaid, save our liberty." The demonstration was organized by ADAPT, a national disability rights organization, CNN reported.
"The American Health Care Act caps and significantly cuts Medicaid which will greatly reduce access to medical care and home and community based services for elderly and disabled Americans who will either die or be forced into institutions," ADAPT organizer Bruce Darling, who took part in the protest, said in a statement.
Capitol Police took 43 protesters into custody after some of them removed themselves from their wheelchairs as part of the "die-in" demonstration, according to a statement cited by several news outlets.