News

05/02/2019

Medicare for All: activist dying of ALS testifies via eye movements at hearing

Published By

The Guardian

[Ady] Barkan was diagnosed with ALS in 2016, at 32 years old. He was little known outside of progressive circles until he cornered the former Arizona senator Jeff Flake on a flight from Phoenix to Washington and urged the senator not to vote for the Republicans’ tax plan. Barkan told Flake about his medical condition and said the tax bill threatened crippling cuts to the federal disability program he relied on for coverage.

“Why not take a stand now? You can be an American hero. You really can!” Barkan pleaded. “You could save my life.”

Flake ultimately voted for the measure, but the exchange elevated Barkan’s profile. His group, the Center for Popular Democracy, set up the “Be a Hero” campaign to rally Democrats before the midterms. A profile in Politico called Barkan the “most powerful activist in America.”

Read the full article here.