WASHINGTON — It was men who started it. It may be women who finished it.

The Senate effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a process that began with 13 Republican men drafting a plan behind closed doors, collapsed Tuesday, as three Republicans said they would not support an ultimately futile attempt to simply roll back the current health care law without a replacement.

Though all three are women, their objections have little to do with their sex and more to do with the legislation’s cuts to Medicaid. In a twist, that aligns them with President Trump’s campaign promise not to touch Medicaid, which helps low-income people, pregnant women and people with disabilities, among others, as well as those eligible under the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the program in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Who are these senators, and why did they break with their party’s leaders?

Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia