Today: Las Cruces Vigil to Urge Senators Bingaman & Udall to Support Public Option

• WHAT: Health Care Vigil, Good Samaritan Auditorium and walk to South Telshor (Las Cruces)
• WHO: Groups members of MoveOn, League of Women Voters, Health Securities for New Mexicans, LULAC, AFSME, College Democrats and Organizing for America, NEA, AARP and others
• WHERE: Good Samaritan Auditorium, 3011 Buena Vida Circle, Las Cruces
• WHEN: Tues., December, 8th, Press Conference at 4 PM prior to speakers at 4:30 PM

From MoveOn: On Tuesday, December 8th, local residents will hold a vigil starting at Good Samaritan Auditorium at 4:30 PM to urge Senators Bingaman and Udall and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to do everything in their power to pass health care reform with a real public option. At the vigil, residents will highlight the disastrous economic costs of delaying or blocking health care reform and draw attention to the thousands of Americans who have to file bankruptcy in these hard economic times because of spiraling medical costs.

Vigil participants will highlight the number of Americans who are being forced into debt by medical costs, the leading cause of bankruptcy in America.

Health care reform with a public option would help cut costs and expand access to affordable, quality health care to millions of Americans. While over 70% of Americans and 86% of Democrats support the choice of a public option in health care reform, Big Insurance and HMO interests are spending nearly $5 million per week to defeat health care reform, with a special focus on killing the public option.

“We’re here today to urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as well as Senators Bingman and Udall, to stand with New Mexico families by doing everything in their power to pass health care reform that provides the choice of a real public option. With 2,547 Americans going bankrupt from medical costs everyday, we can’t allow a few Senators to derail what the majority of Americans want and need,” said Maury Castro of Health Securities for New Mexicans. “Having the choice of a public option will help reduce costs and expand access to health care for millions of Americans and we need Majority Leader Reid to use every tool at his disposal to get it done.”