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A bill that would fully repeal the Affordable Care Act hit President Barack Obama’s desk Wednesday night with support from many North Carolina congressmen.

The bill would end key parts of the Affordable Care Act, including its Medicaid expansion and mandate that individuals must buy health insurance. It would also defund Planned Parenthood for one year.

Area congressmen including House Republican Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry, R-NC, and Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-NC, and Mark Meadows, R-NC, all voted yes on the bill after reaching a compromise with the Senate on Wednesday.

Both of the state’s U.S. senators, Thom Tillis, R-NC, and Richard Burr, R-NC, also voted yes on the bill when it passed in the Senate on Dec. 3.

In statements released Wednesday and Thursday, McHenry, Foxx and Tillis all endorsed the bill.

“This law has not worked,” McHenry said in a release. “For my constituents in Western North Carolina it has meant higher costs, less access and inferior care. It is time we start over.”

Foxx’s statement was similar, although she placed more focus on defunding Planned Parenthood.

“No organization that performs divisive practices like abortion, particularly in such a gruesome, profitable manner, should receive taxpayer dollars,” Foxx said in a statement.

http://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/n-c-congressmen-attempt-to-repeal-obamacare-defund-planned-parenthood/article_4cbf0064-e10d-5739-b3d7-9c32d5f0e946.html