Protesters gathered Monday morning in Gastonia to speak out against cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Faith leaders, advocates and residents directly affected by a recently passed reconciliation bill joined the rally outside the Gaston County Courthouse. The event was part of a coordinated effort across 11 states, targeting the bill and its cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Rev. Darryl Dayson from South Tryon Community United Methodist Church in Charlotte helped organize the protest.
“We believe that the cuts of hundreds of thousands of people for Medicaid and also SNAP are not only going to negatively affect people in this district, and also throughout North Carolina and throughout the nation, but it will kill people,” Dayson said.
Protesters marched from the courthouse to the office of Rep. Tim Moore. A Republican, Moore represents North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District and supported the bill. Statewide organizer with the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign Sangria Noble said they’ve requested a meeting with Moore to discuss the bill’s impact. But he was not at his office during the protest.
“We need help from him to understand why he voted for this bill — you know, for this deadly bill. So we need an understanding from him, and he needs to hear our voices, to hear our pain, and to know that this is devastating,” Noble said.
Demonstrators also carried a casket to symbolize the lives they say will be lost due to the cuts. Experts estimate the bill could strip Medicaid coverage from more than 300,000 people.
