On Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg told a group of supporters that he favors allowing illegal immigrants to have access to Obamacare, stating, “As you know, in the Affordable Care Act, one of the many missing pieces that it has is that the exchanges are not available to the undocumented. I would change that.”
Buttigieg was speaking at a private home in Henderson, Nevada, at a “fireside chat” event hosted by Planned Parenthood, according to The Nevada Independent. He stated, “I know that all the sizzle in the debate right now is about Medicare for all versus the alternatives … And of course, I think my plan is the best plan. But, it doesn’t so much matter if you’re covered if you can’t get access.”
Buttigieg also reportedly stated to a DACA recipient, “First of all, this should go w/o saying but it’s important to say out loud, that I regard you and all DACA recipients as American as I am or anybody else in this room.”
A DACA recipient asks Buttigieg how he'd fix access to health care for the undocumented like her- he tells her "first of all, this should go w/o saying but it's important to say out loud, that I regard you and all DACA recipients as American as I am or anybody else in this room." pic.twitter.com/iV2BI9uFJX
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) February 16, 2020
Buttigieg added, “One thing that will be core to the plan that I’m creating is to ensure that Medicare will launch its plan that robustly supports, reimburses, and funds that care and can tell the difference when there is an area that’s underserved and incentivize more to be serving there.”
Buttigieg spoke of the Federal Equality Act, stating he would sign it as soon as it was “on his desk” if he were elected president. The Heritage Foundation has said of that bill that it would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes under federal civil rights law.The Heritage Foundation added, “Where the original Civil Rights Act of 1964 furthered equality by ensuring that African-Americans had equal access to public accommodations and material goods, the Equality Act would further inequality by penalizing everyday Americans for their beliefs about marriage and biological sex. Similar sexual orientation and gender identity laws at the state and local level have already been used in this way.”
The Heritage Foundation named five groups that would be negatively affected by the bill, explaining:
Employers and Workers: The Equality Act would force employers and workers to conform to new sexual norms or else lose their businesses and jobs … Medical Professionals: The Equality Act would force hospitals and insurers to provide and pay for these therapies against any moral or medical objections. It would politicize medicine by forcing professionals to act against their best medical judgment and provide transition-affirming therapies … Parents and Children: This politicization of medicine would ultimately harm families by normalizing hormonal and surgical interventions for gender dysphoric children as well as ideological “education” in schools and other public venues …
Women: The Equality Act would ultimately lead to the erasure of women by dismantling sex-specific facilities, sports, and other female-only spaces … Non-Profits and Volunteers: The Equality Act would also hurt charities, volunteers, and the populations they serve. State and local sexual orientation and gender identity laws have shut down numerous faith-based adoption and foster care agencies across the country.