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Protesters hold rally against proposed changes to Affordable Care Act / Getty

BY: Andrew Kugle May 8, 2017 10:44 am

Prominent liberals are repeating the talking point that the new Republican health care bill classifiesrape and sexual assault as a pre-existing condition, but several fact-checking organizations have discredited the claim.

House Republicans on Thursday passed the American Health Care Act, which the GOP has touted as a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, in a 217 to 213 vote. After the bill passed, liberals were quick to claim that the plan would classify rape and sexual assault as a pre-existing condition and allow insurance companies to deny Americans coverage or charge higher prices.

The Washington Postfact checker gave the claimfour pinocchios, meaning the paper found the statement to be completely false.

"The notion that AHCA classifies rape or sexual assault as a preexisting condition, or that survivors would be denied coverage, is false," the Post reported.

PolitiFact and BuzzFeed News also said the claim was false.

Several news publications, however, rushed to publish stories that reported the false talking point. The liberal Huffington Postpublished an article that blamed Republicans for making it more difficult for rape survivors to report what happened to them. The site claimed that Republicans were an "ally of rapists."

CNN joined the hysteria andpublished an article titled, "Rape and domestic violence could be pre-existing conditions."

The millennial news publication Mic tweeted out a video that stated rape survivors could be denied coverage because they were raped.

Several reporters parrotedthe talking point as if it was fact. GQ special correspondent and former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann said that President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) "can burn in hell."

Fusion senior reporter Emma Rolleradded that domestic violence would be considered a pre-existing condition.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.) repeated the false claim, tweeting that the bill makes her "sick."

Other prominentliberals shared their disguston Twitter over the false claim.

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Prominent Liberals Cite False Claim That GOP Health Care Bill Makes Rape a Pre-Existing Condition - Washington Free Beacon