Jimmy Kimmel recently opened up about his newborn son’s unexpected open heart surgery, in an emotional, heartfelt monologue that touches upon the rawness and vulnerability of suddenly finding yourself in that terrifying situation as a parent. As I watched him struggle to give voice to their story so soon after it had happened, I was plunged back into the raw emotion of our own first week with L; and his takeaways resonate deeply:

“We were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world, but until a few years ago millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all…if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition. You were born with a pre-existing condition and if your parents didn’t have medical insurance you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a pre-existing condition. If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make.

“Whatever your party, whatever you believe, whoever you support, we need to make sure that the people who are supposed to represent us, people who are meeting about this right now in Washington, understand that very clearly.

“Let’s stop with the nonsense. This isn’t football. There are no teams. We are the team. It’s the United States. Don’t let their partisan squabbles divide us on something every decent person wants. We need to take care of each other.“

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: the current health care debate is everyone’s debate. If you think you are safe, consider what’s at stake. If you think it doesn’t apply to you, take a minute to understand the fundamental insurance principle of herd coverage. If you think a child’s right to life shouldn’t depend on her parent’s wealth, this debate is your debate.

Every single day, all across the nation, families face devastating news and difficult choices. And nearly all of these families face those choices with a tiny fraction of the resources available to the Kimmel family. Implementing a new and improved health care system is far from simple, and pleasing everyone is damn near impossible – but it’s not hard to determine right from wrong when it comes to such a fundamental issue. As Jimmy so simply and poignantly stated, “No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life.”

The GOP’s first health care bill failed, but this battle is far from over. Keep making your voices heard.

Watch the full monologue here.

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