Cancer patient Julie Boonstra and Americans for Prosperity are firing back at Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) for claiming the Michigan woman was lying, slamming Peters for attempting to silence Boonstra.
Boonstra and Americans for Prosperity have teamed up again in a new ad released Tuesday called “Julie Responds.”
“Because of Obamacare, I am now stuck with a plan that doesn’t work for me. My choice was taken away from me,” Boonstra said in the new ad. “All I want is to be listened to.”
Boonstra first appeared in a commercial by the Koch brothers-backed nonprofit that aired in Michigan last week. The cancer patient, who was diagnosed with leukemia five years ago, slammed Peters for voting to pass the Affordable Care Act.
As a result of the law’s implementation, Boonstra — along with millions of Americans — lost her health insurance plan.
But Peters, with the help of a team of lawyers, hit back against Boonstra and called on Michigan television stations to cease airing the ads until he received “factual documentation” for Boonstra’s claims.
The Michigan Democrat is running for the U.S. Senate in November, facing former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) echoed Peters’ allegations that Boonstra’s story was riddled with falsities, claiming on the Senate floor last week that all Obamacare “horror stories” were, in fact, lies.
Boonstra, however, maintains her assertion that her health insurance plan was cancelled because of Obamacare, leaving her with a costly new one.
“I just want Congressman Peters to help me, to listen to me. Instead, he’s trying to silence me,” the Michigan woman says in the new ad. “Cancer is hard enough. I just want to be happy with my plan, and I want it for everyone else out there that’s being hurt by this.”
Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips defended Boonstra in a statement and called on Peters to explain his voting record to Michigan voters feeling the negative affects of Obamacare.
“That Gary Peters would attempt to silence Julie’s story rather than defend his vote for Obamacare tells us everything we need to know about the disaster this law has been for middle-class Americans,” Phillips said. “As Peters and his team can see now, hiding is not going to work. It is time to start listening to real people like Julie instead of political consultants, and admit that Obamacare is not the answer.”
Peters, however, is continuing to fight back against both Boonstra and Americans for Prosperity.
“The claims in AFP’s original ad have been discredited by local and national media, and any charge that our campaign tried to silence her are absolutely inaccurate. Per standard practice, we asked AFP to provide documentation for claims that AFP paid to air after independent fact checkers said they needed further substantiation,” Haley Morris, a spokeswoman for Peters, told The Hill.
Watch Americans for Prosperity’s new ad, “Julie Responds,” below.
