Midge Hough Suffered Through Personal Loss and Attacks from Tea Partiers to Win BuzzFlash's Wings of Justice Award

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Midge Hough

Celebrating the first holiday season after losing a loved one has to be a very difficult experience. But that experience can be amplified if you speak in front of a crowd about your loss, have people make fun of the deaths of your loved ones, and have the video broadcast all over YouTube.

Midge Hough had to go through that experience.

Hough got up to speak at a town hall meeting for Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL). Talking about losing your daughter-in-law and unborn grandchild is front of a gathering is courage in itself. Sometimes even saying it out loud makes it more painful.

If only Hough's problems ended there.

But as we all know, as Hough was telling her heartfelt story, she was heckled by the tea party protesters.  

As if that wasn't enough, Hough was also accused of being an Obama plant, and that she made up the story. Even if those rumors and speculation were confirmed as being false, while that may be a consolation, it doesn't make the hurt any better.

But Hough should know in this time of the season, where Hough would have otherwise be holding her grandchild, that her willingness to stand up for a better health care system was worthwhile.

The impact of health care reform legislation does make a difference to real human lives. Real lives such as Midge Hough and millions of others in this country.

"If there had been affordable health care, Jen and the baby would probably be with us now. There were no options for us. We checked everything out." as Hough told Ed Schultz on MSNBC.

Hough said she tried to get Jenny insurance but her pregnancy was considered a pre-existing condition.

Hough should know that her stand has made a difference. People got to see the cruelty of the protesters. Others got to know they weren't alone in having their own personal struggle with the world of health insurance.

The pain and suffering of the ongoing fight for health insurance should have been bad enough, then the death of her daughter-in-law and grandchild added untold grief on top of the fight.

For speaking up despite a barrage of taunts and heckling, and for still rising up to fight for a better way for health care, we award Midge Hough the BuzzFlash Wings of Justice award.

* * *

Nominated by BuzzFlash staff. Click here to see a full list of past Wings of Justice honorees.