Thousands rally at Faneuil Hall for Obamacare

Jan. 16--Thousands converged on Faneuil Hall for a rally led by the state's top Democrats vowing to stop the abolition of Obamacare.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, leading the anti-Republican charge, boomed across the crowded cobblestones that after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, GOP leaders "whined" and "called names."

"But there's one thing they never did, and that is lift a single finger to make health care better," Warren said, echoing a common complaint among yesterday's speakers that Republicans haven't produced an alternative plan.

"And now they want to repeal and run," Warren said to cheers. "That's right, repeal and run. I think repeal-and-run is for cowards. ... If Republicans try and rip health care out of the hands of millions of Americans, we will fight them every step of the way."

The "Our First Stand: Save Health Care" rally is one of many Democrats including Vermont presidential also-ran U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders have been organizing. They say if Obamacare is repealed, people with pre-existing conditions could be denied coverage, seniors may be forced to pay more for prescription drugs and opioid addicts could be denied treatment.

Looking out as far as City Hall Plaza at signs like, "Care Not Chaos" and "This Shrink Thinks Repeal Stinks," Mayor Martin J. Walsh stoked the crowd by telling them President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled House and Senate want to trash legislation that has made health insurance a right, not a privilege, "like it never happened in the first place."

"Congress may be turning their backs on millions and millions and millions of people, but here in Boston, we will never turn our backs on people," Walsh promised.

One of the event's most moving moments came from Janis McGrory, a Harwich High math teacher whose 23-year-old daughter, Elizabeth "Liz" LeFort, a former National Honor Society and dean's list student, died in 2011 from an accidental heroin overdose.

"We are losing over 50,000 people a day to accidental overdoses (nationwide)," McGrory said. "Every day in Massachusetts, five mothers get a knock on the door or a phone call informing them of the loss of their child. It makes me so angry. How can the politicians turn their backs on those desperately trying to get help and lead productive lives?

"To think that our leaders in Washington think this is the right thing to do is unconscionable. It is wrong, plain and simple."

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