Nestled into my seat next to a window offering up views of industrial Pennsylvania, I sobbed quietly so as not to disturb those around me wishing for a peaceful Amtrak ride. I wish I could say this were a rare occasion, crying so publicly, feeling cut open for anyone to see. But that’s the state I’ve been stuck in lately.
These impromptu public shows of emotion began a few weeks ago when I started a cycle for egg preservation, a treatment that will hopefully allow me to have children one day. “It’s just the hormones,” my inner monologue said on repeat. But even as, over time, the hormones are flushed from my body, I continue to cry easily at the slightest provocation—and the not-so-slight ones, too.
The night before embarking upon my tear-filled train ride, I obsessively checked Twitter for updates on the House Republicans’ American Health Care Act bill. For a week prior, coverage of the bill highlighted that protections for people with pre-existing conditions would potentially be in danger if this replacement for the Affordable Care Act were to pass. According to the Congressional Budget Office's official report, less healthy people—people like me—"would face extremely high premiums" in states that chose to waive these Obamacare-era protections under the AHCA's less strict rules. It was passed by the House earlier this month and now moves to the Senate; if the AHCA takes effect, the CBO estimates that 23 million more Americans will become uninsured by 2026.
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