Rows of cardboard tombstones lined the space outside the North Carolina General Assembly as Bishop William J. Barber II delivered a somber eulogy for the tens of thousands of people he says are expected to die because of federal and state level cuts to vital social safety net programs. The tombstones carried phrases like “I lost Medicare,” “I was disappeared,” “I lost medical research,” and “FEMA did not respond,” each one symbolizing a life disrupted or endangered by recent policy shifts.
Barber began by reflecting on the meaning of the word eulogy, noting its Greek origin, eulogia, meaning good words. He then posed a central question for the gathering: “what is the ‘good word’ when people shouldn’t be dead?” Speaking as president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, he emphasized that the people being remembered at the event are projected to die due to what he frequently described as policy violence. As he told attendees, “We will not let them die ignored. We will not let their deaths go unregistered on the conscience of this nation and this state, and among the people.”
Monday’s gathering was the main event of a coordinated Moral Mondays action, with supporters in more than 15 states, including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas, holding their own eulogies. These events highlighted the sweeping consequences of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July and the broader Trump administration agenda to restrict or weaken Medicaid, SNAP, Affordable Care Act subsidies, and public health funding. Altogether, the policies include 186 billion dollars in cuts to SNAP and 1 trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid.
Analysts estimate that roughly 51,000 people are expected to die each year due to the combination of lost food assistance and the elimination of health coverage that had been protected through Medicaid and ACA subsidies. The risks extend further to disabled Americans and low income seniors who will struggle to access Medicare Savings Programs because of provisions contained in the act.
Barber was blunt about the scale and intent of the legislation. “When they passed the Big Ugly Deadly Destructive Bill—don’t ever call it the Beautiful Bill—when they passed it, it represented a death sentence.” He argued that Republican lawmakers used allegations of “waste and fraud and abuse” to justify the cuts, saying, “They had to tell a lie to keep their promise to the wealthiest people in America.” The act includes substantial tax cuts for high income households.
The event also centered the experiences of people directly affected by Medicaid cuts. Sloan Meek, who has cerebral palsy, described how threatened she feels by the coming reductions. “I feel a lot of fear and worry right now that every cut and rate reduction to Medicaid will change my whole life.” She elaborated on how her disability requires ongoing treatment. “Having disabilities does not mean I am sick, but it does mean I need consistent treatment and care to stay healthy.” Meek explained that continuity of care is tied to her independence. “I do not want to become sick. I do not want to lose my community. I do not want to lose my voice. I do not want to be forced out of my home to live and receive care from a bunch of strangers. I do not want to die because of a political issue.” She urged lawmakers to consider the value of disabled lives, saying, “These are the fears I share with every disabled person using Medicaid in North Carolina right now. I would like to ask every legislator to please see us as having valuable and important lives that are worth supporting.”
Another North Carolina resident, Nikki Williams, also spoke about what the cuts will mean for her family. “I personally receive Medicaid, and without Medicaid, I can’t receive pain management. I can’t go to the dentist.” She said friends have already seen their health insurance premiums double with the loss of subsidies. Williams predicted that people who lose coverage will turn to emergency rooms for care, driving up costs. “Then that means everybody’s fees [cost] going up, so that the doctors can get paid.” Despite the political struggles underlying the cuts, she expressed faith that lawmakers could act if they chose to. “It’s not about having the funds to do it. It’s about not having the willingness to do it,” she said. “And they should be ashamed because their people should come first. Their people put them in office. It’s their responsibility to protect them.”
Along with healthcare and food assistance cuts, the event criticized the Trump administration’s actions within FEMA and immigration enforcement. Organizers referenced disaster aid delays and denials, arguing that vulnerable communities are being left to navigate crises on their own. Barber described the administration’s immigration raids as having “unleashed its masked army of ICE agents to terrify and abduct immigrants in Charlotte and Raleigh.”
Barber addressed what he described as a moral contradiction among policymakers who support the cuts. “One of the grandest, cruelest ironies is that many of the leaders greenlighting these deadly policies profess to be Christian.” He said, “I’m not sure what Bible they’re reading, but my Bible tells me to protect all people—including poor people and foreigners—without condition or judgment.”
Two days after the event, Repairers of the Breach planned to send an open letter to every member of the North Carolina General Assembly. Barber said the message would call for an emergency session “to take hands off the people of North Carolina, to reverse policies that will hurt 307,000 North Carolinians that will lose Medicaid, that will cause 375,000 to lose food stamps.” State level factors have already intensified the crisis. North Carolina recently cut Medicaid provider payments by between 3 percent and 10 percent. Governor Josh Stein said the reductions were necessary because lawmakers failed to fully fund the program. Republican legislators argue that the cuts were premature and politically motivated, even though the state House and Senate have each approved separate funding plans without reaching a compromise.
Repairers of the Breach is also preparing another action calling on Congress and the White House “to immediately cease and desist” attacks on Latino and immigrant communities. The organization plans to deploy “Liberty Vans,” described as mobile rapid response command centers staffed by volunteer lawyers and campaigners to assist areas affected by ICE operations.
Barber told participants that memorializing those projected to die is a way to ensure their lives remain visible as the consequences of the legislation unfold. His message underscored the urgency behind the protests: “We will not let them die ignored.” Organizers argue that the harms caused by cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and public services are measurable and predictable, and that choosing to reduce these programs represents a political decision with life and death consequences for millions of people.
COMMENTS