MoveOn has gathered more than 42,000 signatures on a petition to ask Congress to stop President Donald Trump and Elon Musk from making massive cuts to life-saving medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The organization, a group of Americans founded in 1998 to support political candidates and passing of legislation,
has a history of collecting signatures and creating change.
“Any cuts to the National Institutes of Health are also cuts to crucial research on cancer, Alzheimer’s and other deadly and devastating diseases. That’s what Trump and Musk want to cut to fund their billionaire giveaways. Further cuts to the NIH could delay life-saving treatments and have heartbreaking consequences on Americans’ health. The fight to cure diseases is not a partisan issue,” MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich said.
In early February, the Trump Administration announced slashing billions of dollars in grant funding and biomedical research, all of which would stifle scientific progress for cures and treatments related to Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer and strokes.
“We envision a world marked by equality, sustainability, justice and love. And we mobilize together to achieve it,” the group’s website states.
The petition currently has 43,974 signatures and more are welcome to reach 45,000.
NIH research grants have made it possible to extend countless lives, notably reduce cancer development and save lives in the process. NIH-funded research was essential for the first artificial heart valves and CT scans; breakthrough gene therapy; developing new ways to prevent, diagnose, treat and manage infectious diseases including the flu, Lyme and hepatitis; and treating chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.
“I am a cancer survivor. It is outrageous that millions of cancer patients will suffer due to Trump and Musk. Not only this, they are cutting funding for the CDC and RFK Jr. has been confirmed as the Secretary of the HHS. Are they determined to increase mortality in America?” Texas MoveOn member Pamela B said.
Millions of Americans benefit from cures and treatments funded by the agency and real-life consequences are possible for patients and communities who will suffer because of cuts in funding for research. While a judge has halted the NIH policy temporarily, after 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit, many scientists are left in fear that they will have to abandon projects, limiting potentially new life-saving scientific breakthroughs.
“Who voted to stop research on cancer? NOBODY! This is another manifestation of the true intent of Trump and his Republican enablers: to make government non-functional,” says Georgia MoveOn member Kurt Z.
MoveOn was founded during former President Bill Clinton‘s impeachment debate, when the group formed a petition which became the first breakout digital intervention in American politics. The group has since played a role in ending the War in Iraq, passing and defending landmark legislation including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and advanced racial, economic and other forms of social justice.
In 2016, MoveOn has served as a pillar of the Resistance movement to limit the harm caused by Trump and the GOP.
“MoveOn is more than our name. It is our challenge to America: to move forward boldly and fearlessly, upholding and enacting the values that will make our country work for all of us,” the group’s website states.
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Rebecca Barnabi
