The Democratic and Republican parties are working to consolidate support for their respective candidates. And while for the Democrats there are still some “Bernie or Bust” voters hanging on, other voters are taking to social media to share why they’re throwing their support behind Hillary Clinton.
One man, author James Grissom, shared on Facebook how then-Senator Hillary Clinton and his local Planned Parenthood clinic personally helped him with his cancer treatment. Though he began the election cycle as a supporter of Bernie Sanders, Grissom wrote, “I was reminded that some people speak well and inspire, and others actually show up and get things done. It may not be as inspirational; it may not lead to a slogan or button, but the showing up—consistently and firmly—changes lives.”
According to his Facebook post, Grissom was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2007, while working part-time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. His urologist sent him to Planned Parenthood because Grissom had no insurance or savings. The doctors who he met at Planned Parenthood were “not the cartoon abortionists or criminals they are often said to be.” He says that after guiding him through treatment options, his Planned Parenthood doctor found him an oncologist who made sure he was treated “as a family member”—ensuring that his treatments were discounted.
When he struggled with his bills, the hospital sent his case to a collection agency. His physician told him to contact the billing department and his senator’s office. That office was Hillary Clinton’s. After a few calls, Grissom says she personally got on the phone with him and promised to help. “‘You need to fight this cancer and get well: You don’t have time for this nonsense,'” Clinton told Grissom. “‘Let me look into it.'”
Once Clinton got involved, Grissom wrote, everything turned around:
Within a week, the collection calls ceased, and within a month, Hillary Clinton put me in touch with two organizations offering financial aid to people undergoing cancer treatment. These organizations eliminated half of my debt, and within eighteen months, I had paid the remaining amount, without any collection activity or annoying calls.
I just re-read the letter that Hillary Clinton sent to the hospital (It was Roosevelt, if you must know), and in her indignation, she refers to me as her friend. Not a constituent, but a friend. She prevailed upon the proud history of the hospital and the medical profession to do the right thing, and adjudged the collection activity to have been an “unfortunate mistake or oversight.”
While Grissom is now cancer-free, he says that he relies on the Affordable Care Act for help with his follow-up appointments and treatments. Clinton has vowed on the campaign trail to improve and expand the Affordable Care Act. “And yet,” Grissom wrote, “Hillary Clinton and Planned Parenthood are villainous, despicable, ready for defunding or defeat. I don’t understand that.”
He ended his letter by simply saying, “That’s my time with Hillary Clinton. Sorry I looked away for a time. But now you can deal me in.”
Read his full letter on Facebook below:
[h/t: Marie Claire]
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