Hundreds rally to save Obamacare

HARTFORD » Young and old braved the chilly temperatures Sunday to rally against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

More than 500 people, according to state Capitol Police, rallied on the north steps of the state Capitol in Hartford with members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation to voice their support for Obamacare.

Republicans took a significant first step in repealing it last week when both U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives voted to approve a budget resolution that would lead to the 2010 law’s dismantling.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont played a major role in helping organize similar rallies with Democrats in Congress across the country Sunday. The former presidential candidate spoke Sunday at a rally in Michigan, a state Presidentelect Donald Trump won.

Sanders has been pushing his party toward mobilizing millions of Americans to help his Republican colleagues back off plans to repeal the law, which has helped 20 million Americans obtain insurance coverage.

“I see no alternative to direct action and creative nonviolence to raise a conscience of a nation,” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said Sunday at the rally in Hartford. “Are you ready for direct action? Are you ready to raise a conscience of a nation?”