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The ACA—and the Americans Who Rely on It—Will Live to See Another Day

This afternoon, Paul Ryan rushed to the White House to tell President Trump that, despite his ultimatum, they did not have the votes to pass his bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Below is what happened on Trump's 44th day in office. You can find out what damage was done every other day so far on the Saddest Calendar on the Internet.

After going head-to-head with the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative Republican group who believe the American Health Care Act to be not quite devastating enough, Trump threw out an ultimatum: The House must vote on the AHCA Friday, and if they defeat it, he's leaving Obamacare in place.

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This afternoon, House Republicans withdrew the bill after realizing they did not have enough votes to pass it.

Much of the pushback on the bill had to do with it being too moderate, not too discriminatory or cruel (despite its attacks on women, the working class, the disabled, and Medicaid recipients). On Thursday, according to CNN, chairman Mark Meadows (R-N) said there were "30-40" votes against the bill, as they had a handful of provisions they wanted to be included in the AHCA—notably: a repeal of Essential Health Benefits, which would eliminate the requirement in Obamacare that insurers cover benefits like maternity care, mental health and psychiatric coverage, and pediatric services.

This morning, Trump took his frustration to Twitter and tweeted: "The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!"

Just past 1 PM EST, AP News tweeted that "House lawmakers and aides [said] the health care bill is short of support ahead of vote demanded by President Trump." Minutes later, Representative Barbara Comstock (R-VA), a lawmaker who represents a district that voted for Hillary Clinton but is a friend of ACHA mastermind Paul Ryan, said she was not voting for the bill after having stayed quiet on the subject. Just past 3 PM, House Republicans realized they were short of votes and withdrew the bill.

Women are not going to forget that a group of male elected officials met in the White House to negotiate away maternity care and women's health in an effort to pass the worst bill for women's health in a generation.

It remains to be seen if Trump will stand by his ultimatum and keep Obamacare in place. When asked yesterday during a press conference if there was a plan if the health care bill did not pass, press secretary Sean Spicer responded, "No, it's going to pass."

Regardless of what comes next, the impact of the AHCA will live on in the minds of those it not only disregarded, but devalued.

"The fact that Paul Ryan and other House Republicans are still trying to push this disastrous bill reflects their complete disregard for women's health and rights," Dawn Laguens, the Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood, said in a press release. "Women are not going to forget that a group of male elected officials met in the White House to negotiate away maternity care and women's health in an effort to pass the worst bill for women's health in a generation."