Today I announced I will be voting “No” on the 2020 Democratic Platform.

While it captures progress within the party, I can and will not get in line and vote for a platform that doesn’t provide the basic necessity of health care for the people of this country. 

History teaches us that the Democratic Party has sometimes faced an issue so great that it alone should be the yardstick for measuring the wisdom of voting for or against the platform. This is one of those times. And Medicare for All is that issue.

I understand that this is one of the most important elections of our times and I will be emphatically supporting the Democratic ticket that will defeat Donald Trump. But this platform should encompass everything we hope to accomplish with these new leaders. If Medicare for All is not a part of that platform, then I cannot sign on in support.

I believe that moving away from a profit-based health care system is the moral issue of our time. That’s why we can’t back down. We can’t let it go. We must continue to fight for Medicare for All.

Will you give a donation right now so we can continue our fight for Medicare for All in Congress? We have to show the Democratic Party that issue is too important to leave out.

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I will be voting "No" on the platform because when we say that health care is a human right, we must truly mean it — and fight for it. I believe if we remain stuck on such concepts as "affordable" when talking about solutions to health care accessibility, we are badly constrained inside a limited debate. 

I will cast my one vote of "No" for every person who has had to ration medication to afford food, or who has lost a loved one because a procedure that a doctor said was needed was not covered in an insurance plan. 

I will cast a "No" vote because, in the words of our great Democratic National Committee member from Iowa, Jodi Clemens, "Our friends are dying"—and I want my party, the Democratic Party, to address this moral problem with clarity of moral purpose.

I respect and appreciate the people who worked to put this platform together. I know those who worked on it did so with a strong sense of purpose, wanting to make this a better party — but I know we can do more.

I’m asking you to make a donation right now so we can keep fighting for Medicare for All in Congress and ensure that your health is never put on the backburner.

- Ro