Linking Healthcare and A Healthy Planet
The Pennsylvania Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival intensified during its fourth straight week of nonviolent direct action at the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, which called for universal, single payer healthcare for all and an end to ecological devastation in Pennsylvania.
Originally published on Medium. Jun 5, 2018
On Monday, June 4, hundreds of poor people, clergy and environmental advocates returned to the Pennsylvania State Capitol for the fourth-consecutive week to demand justice.
This time, the protest focused on the many people we know who have been harmed or been killed because of ecological devastation and a health insurance system which makes healthcare a commodity and not a right.
About 125 people from cities, towns and rural communities in two dozen counties gathered for the pre-action training and then marched together over to the Capitol where dozens more were arriving for the start of the rally. Hundreds rallied inside the Rotunda, including activists with the PA Budget and Policy Center, who joined at the end of their budget day of action. Speakers from the Better Path Coalition, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), Healthcare 4 All PA and Put People First! PA discussed the interconnections between health and environmental devastation as they relate to poverty and systemic racism. It is poor and working people who pay the price (often with their lives) for the profiteering in our healthcare system and the destruction and pollution of our land and water. Participants raised up photos of their loved ones who have been harmed or killed by the healthcare and environmental crises.
“The State Correctional Institution Fayette in LaBelle PA is experiencing a health and environmental crisis. The air is bad, the water is bad, and of course the healthcare is bad,” said Richard Mosley.
“From 1998 to 2013, over 5 million tons of coal ash were dumped on the grounds at SCI Fayette. Every new deposit spread dangerous dust into the air. The water was so bad, we called it tea water. As my health deteriorated, I was diagnosed with respiratory infections, bronchitis, and throat irritations that made swallowing very difficult. The medical staff and administration told me there was nothing wrong with me, that my problem was imaginary and psychosomatic. My weight dropped down from 225 to 170. I got so sick at one point that I kept a letter with me to send to my family in case I died. That’s how bad it got. I really didn’t think I was going to make it. We are determined and steadfast in seeking justice for those who have been or are currently being harmed by health and environmental hazards at SCI Fayette.”
31 moral witnesses ‘died-in’ and were arrested in front of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building on Monday June 4 to represent the lives that we have lost because they could not afford healthcare and/or because of poisoned land, air or water.
Following the rally, participants in Monday’s nonviolent direct action dropped two banners overlooking the East Wing entrance of the State Capitol Building which read “People Over Profit,” and “Planet Over Profit.”
After the banner drop, 31 participants, including clergy, members of the Earth Quaker Action Team, the Nonviolent Medicaid Army and LILAC-Philly DSA ‘died-in’ in front of the entrance — to represent all of those that we have lost to our failed healthcare system and ecological devastation in Pennsylvania. During the die-in, two spokespeople led a call and response chanting of the names of these victims — names collected from families across Pennsylvania including some who could not be present, concluding with a remembrance of the (at least) 4,600 citizens that have died because of Hurricane Maria and our government’s response in Puerto Rico.
The U.S. spends more per capita on health care than any other country, at approximately $10,348 per person per year, yet there are more than 32 million people who lack health insurance in America, including 700,000 people in Pennsylvania. On top of this, we know that insurance coverage does not necessarily equal quality care.
Map of active fracking wells in Pennsylvania as of July 2nd, 2024.
Environmental degradation in the U.S. exacerbates the healthcare crisis hurting America’s poor the most: there are 7,788 active fracking wells in Pennsylvania. More than 1200 peer-reviewed studies link fracking wells to low birth weight, high risk pregnancy, respiratory conditions, skin conditions (one so common that it’s called ‘frack rash’), increased hospitalization rates for cardiac and neurological conditions, endocrine problems, migraines, aggravated asthmatic conditions, certain cancers, including childhood leukemia, and many other conditions.
Of course, the fossil fuel industry is just one of the industries that have compromised Pennsylvanians’ health and natural resources. Pittsburgh’s air quality was among the worst in the nation. And Philadelphia’s asthma rates are twice the national average.
We demand 100 percent clean, renewable energy and a public jobs program to transition to a green economy that will put millions of people in sustainable living wage jobs.
We demand a fully funded public water and sanitation infrastructure that keeps these utilities and services under public control and that prioritize poor, rural and Native communities that have been harmed by polluting and extractive industries.
We demand a ban on fracking, mountaintop removal coal mining, coal ash ponds, and offshore drilling.
We demand a ban on all new pipelines, refineries, and coal, oil, and gas export terminals.
We demand the protection of public lands and the immediate cessation of opening up public lands for polluting and extractive industries.
We demand fully funded public resources and access to mental health professionals and addiction and recovery programs.
We demand the expansion of Medicaid in every state and the protection of Medicare and single-payer universal health care for all.
We demand equal treatment and accessible housing, health care, public transportation, adequate income and services for people with disabilities.
We demand the repeal of the 2017 federal tax law and the reinvestment of those funds into public programs for housing, health care, education, jobs, infrastructure and welfare for the poor.