![NW part of the U.S. Capitol building, Senate. / [Image by Tim Evanson via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 ]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/7/18/660x290/b_502x220x82/nw-part-of-the-us-capitol-building-senate-image-by-tim-evanson-via-flickr-cc-by-sa-20_1460817.jpg "NW part of the U.S. Capitol building, Senate. / [Image by Tim Evanson via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 ]")
When Senate Republicans hit another wall at the beginning of last week with trying to replace and even repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) -- otherwise referred to as Obamacare -- it was for the usual reason, which is that they couldn't get enough votes for either bill. On Monday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was also absent from the vote over emergency surgery, not to mention that there was already a growing number of Republicans who said they would not vote "yes" on the bill or who were reluctant to do so.
The women of the Republican Senate
Monday night, it was announced that the Senate would move on a clean repeal-only bill but by Tuesday morning right before the GOP conference lunch, Sens Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Shelley Moore Capito (R.W.Va.) said they would not even support a procedural motion for a vote.
In fact, Sen. Murkowski brought up the fact that when Republicans suggested they would try to repeal in January, she even established at the time that she would not vote for a repeal unless there was a replacement.
Capito added that they did not come to Washington to hurt people which only confirms all of the analysis and predictions of what Republican-led legislation over health care would result in. Especially if it has nothing to do with fixing the problems in the current ACA. The infighting only worsened within the Republican Party because, after the failure, it was reported that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) -- who said he would not vote for a replacement because it was too much like Obamacare -- said that those Republicans would have to face their constituents back home.
Female senators attacked via Twitter
But it was also reported that naturally, all three of those women ended up taking some heat on Twitter. The FreedomWorks Foundation called Susan Collins "a fraud." The organization is a conservative group of right-wing activists who represent a more extremist agenda from what Republicans used to embrace.
Another conservative commentator questioned why the three women were even Republicans if they were going to vote against getting rid of Obamacare.
This recalls the promise that Republicans have made since the ACA went into effect in 2010 saying they were going to get rid of it. The Senate Majority Leader even said last year that they were going to get rid of the ACA "root and branch." Democrats have acknowledged that there are problems with the ACA and suggested that they work with Republicans to fix them.
But they also refused to work with Republicans if repeal and replace was the only decision. Murkowski also sees this as the solution, to work together with Democrats and find a way to fix the ACA and stabilize the individual markets.
