Speaking for Jessica at Congressman Carter’s Event

This week in New Orleans, I had the honor of speaking at a critical town hall hosted by Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. — focused on the dangerous attacks on America’s healthcare.

Standing alongside Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nanette Barragán, and Robin Kelly, I shared the story of my baby sister, Jessica Collins-Ruffin.

Jessica was a mother, a wife, and a woman who could bake cakes so good they’d make you dance. She should still be here. But when Jessica was pregnant and worried about her blood pressure, she went to the hospital’s clinic — only to learn her Medicaid had lapsed that very day. They turned her away. Later, she sat in an ER with a blood pressure of 280 over 190, suffered a stroke, and started seizing. Her baby Jayce died three days before Jessica passed. We never even had the heart to tell her.

This isn’t just a healthcare issue — it’s about life, liberty, and the promises of the 14th Amendment. Yet now they’re slashing Medicaid by 18% — a $1.1 trillion cut — adding work requirements, new $35 co-pays, and tightening how states like Louisiana can pay for care. That puts 267,000 Louisianans at risk of losing coverage. It could cost our state another 4 billion dollars, and if we don’t pay it, more families will hear “you’re on your own.”

Eugene Collins & Jessica Collins-Ruffin

So I closed with this:

If liberty is your creed, then justice must lead. If freedom you shout, then hear Black mothers out. If this nation is great, prove it by fate. Let all our daughters live, before it’s too late.

I want to personally thank Congressman Troy Carter for giving me the chance to share Jessica’s story. It’s leaders like him who make sure families like mine are heard — so our heartbreak can drive real change.

For more on these events, visit troycarter.house.gov/townhall