More than a thousand people rallied at Capitol Square on Sunday to show
support for health care legislation championed by President Barack Obama.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned to repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act, which Sen. Tim Kaine said was used by about 650,000
Virginians.

The former vice-presidential candidate spoke at the rally, expressing
skepticism about Republicans’ plans to replace the Affordable Care Act.

“Why don’t we jump off a cliff and figure out how to land on the way down,”
Kaine said.

The U.S. Senate voted along party lines last week to begin the process of
repeal. Kaine noted that Democrats needed three Republican Senators to
preserve the 2010 legislation.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, congressmen Bobby
Scott and Donald McEachin and a local arts administrator also spoke in
favor of keeping the current system.

Director at Studio Two Three, Ashley Hawkins, held her three-month-old
daughter, Zoey, and told the crowd that the hospital birth would’ve cost a
third of her salary.

With the federal health care subsidies, she said, she was paying a little
less than $300 a month for her and her son’s health insurance.

“Health care is the freedom to sleep at night knowing that no matter what
happens, our children are protected,” she said. “This is why today is so
important. We are 30 million Americans who deserve security, safety and
above all, health.”

Repealing Obamacare would jeopardize her health care, Hawkins said, and
lead insurers to deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, as
they did before the legislation.

Republicans have said they would protect the pre-existing condition element
of the Affordable Care Act, but some opponents of repeal-and-replace say
there’s no guarantee.

As head of the Scott’s Addition space for artists, Hawkins said she knows
artists, entrepreneurs and college adjuncts that rely on the Affordable
Care Act. Without health care, she said, an accident or health care
situation could leave someone bankrupt.

The Sunday rally also served as an early staging ground for Democratic
primaries in Virginia’s 2017 election. Three Democrats who have declared
themselves candidates for lieutenant governor spoke. So did gubernatorial
hopefuls Ralph Northam and Tom Perriello.

The rally comes a day after a march of a similar size in support of women’s
issues, the March on Monument. On Monday, Capitol Square will serve as the
location for a pro-gun rally, as well as one in support of gun control.