In July 2017, the Senate voted down the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act! Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his band of Republicans were inches away from swiping care from millions of people, but they were no match for a key set of tireless UltraViolet members who showed up again and again, month after month, since almost immediately after Election Day 2016, from Maine to Alaska. You held sit-ins and speak-outs, letter-writing and call Congress house parties, and even emergency spur-of-the-moment rallies. Your work was integral to ensuring senators didn't vote to rob millions of their health care. 

UltraViolet leaders in key states, including Maine, Alaska, Nevada, Louisiana, Colorado, Arkansas, Arizona, and West Virginia, have organized since it became clear President Trump and Republican leaders would make it mission #1 to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We did not waste a minute, organizing right after Election Day in November. Look at all we did together:

• • In November, just days after the election, UltraViolet members in Alaska, Nevada, Maine, Ohio, and Arizona set up their first meetings with key senators about health care. By February, UltraViolet members in these states held more than 15 meetings with key senators about the importance of the Affordable Care Act.

• •UltraViolet members crowdfunded billboards and bus ads targeting key senators in Arizona, Nevada, Maine, and Alaska, urging them to save our health care.

• • In March, Shoshanah S. in Anchorage, AK and Emma G. in Portland, ME led a rally and ice sculpture delivery to save Planned Parenthood. Our message: "Don't leave Planned Parenthood patients out in the cold."  

• • In May, members like Caren S. in Phoenix, AZ led "Women Resist" events to organize in support of the ACA as the Senate began work on Trumpcare.

• • For the last two months, UltraViolet members in Alaska, Maine, and Nevada have been organizing at least one event a week, from sit-ins to vigils to speak-outs. 

• • Theresa B. from Reno, NV flew all the way to Washington, D.C. to speak in front of hundreds and share her story of her son who suffers from a heart defect and relies heavily on the ACA.

• • Members in Tucson, AZ held the first of what would become countless sit-ins that swept the nation during this fight back in June.

• • Days after it became clear that the Senate Republican health care bill would lead to discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, including for survivors of sexual assault, members in Reno, NV held an emergency protest outside of Senator Heller's office.

• • Members across the state of Maine showed up weekly at Senator Collins' many in-state offices, continuing to pressure her and secure her as a 'no' vote. They even showed up outside one of her few public appearances in July to remind her that people like us are constantly watching.

• • In Phoenix, AZ and Anchorage, AK, just one day before the final health care victory, members organized large rallies targeting Senator McCain and Senator Murkowski, gatherings that would ultimately prove critical to winning their decisive votes.

In addition to offline actions, thousands of UltraViolet members called their Senators to demand they protect the Affordable Care Act. We displayed "Trumpcare Attacks Women" projections on district offices around the country, and ran "homepage takeover" ads on The Hill and local newspapers in key senators' districts.

Your actions and public opposition over the past few weeks have received millions of views across the country, with nearly 500 press hits and coverage in The Washington Post, Glamour, CNN, Vox, and tons of local press coverage as well.

Defeating Trumpcare is an undeniable victory for millions of people across our country. We know that the fight is far from over and the Trump administration will continue to attack people's health care coverage, but last week's victory proves that women-led and member-led resistance works. Want to see more photos from your actions? Check out our Flickr page.