Photo by: Bill Branson

White coats covered the steps at a Stanford University medical school building yesterday as part of the ProtectOurPatients campaign, a grassroots protest in defense of the Affordable Care Act. 

“We are covering our medical center with our coats to symbolically represent the need for coverage for our patients," says medical student Julie Barzilar.

“This doesn’t just affect coverage, it affects people in our community,”  said protester Alvaro Amorin said. “I don’t think this is America.We have better morals.We have better values.” Amorin’s sister and mother, who live in San Mateo near the Stanford campus, depend on the ACA for coverage.

Several students carried signs that said “#DoNoHarm” and “Whitecoats for coverage.” They cheered together and chanted their concern regarding the Trump administration's plan to repeal Obamacare.

Estimates say that 32 million American will lose their health insurance if the ACA is repealed.It’s also estimated that forty-three thousand people will die each year if there is a repeal.

The demonstration was organized through the Stanford Medicine Facebook page, and protesters shared photos on Instagram.  “Politics shouldn’t be a part of it," said second-year medical student Jon Sole. "The fact that politics can harm people this way is wrong.Oftentimes [change] comes at the cost of those most vulnerable.”