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Thousands Gather In Downtown Seattle In Support Of The Affordable Care Act

Warren Langford
Washington state Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal addresses a crowd gathered in Seattle's Westlake Park to protests Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

A crowd of over 2,000 tested the capacity of Westlake Park in downtown Seattle Sunday afternoon. They were all there to protest the expected repeal of the Affordable Care Act put in motion last week by Republican lawmakers. 

Washington state Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal helped organize the event and was one of more than 10 speakers.

"I'm a woman and I am here to tell you that I refuse to go back to the days when simply being a woman was a pre-existing condition,” Jayapal said, addressing the crowd. “That is absolutely not right, and I am gonna put up a hell of a fight to protect my health care.”

The Democratic representative went on to announce she will buck tradition by not attending the inauguration of Donald Trump this Friday outside the U.S. Capitol building.

Inside that building, however, efforts to scrap President Barack Obama's health care overhaul continue. On Friday, Republicans drove a budget through Congress giving them an early but critical victory in that fight.

The real work, however, looms in the coming months as the new Trump administration and congressional Republicans write legislation to erase much of the health care law and replace it with a GOP version, although Republicans have internal divisions over what that would look like.