While Vice President Mike Pence met behind closed doors with local business leaders in Lexington Wednesday afternoon, dozens of people shared sunscreen and water bottles outside as they banded together in support of the Affordable Care Act.

“Mike Pence, I know you’re in there!” 25-year-old Paula Benge of Lexington yelled into a bullhorn. “I know you can hear me!”

Benge, like many of the people who protested Pence’s visit to Kentucky that day, expressed concern about how Republican leaders’ ongoing attempt to repeal and replace the ACA – also known as Obamacare – could impact her family.

Her 11-month-old son Harvey was born prematurely, and she worries his pre-existing conditions could prevent him from obtaining health insurance in the future if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky succeeds in drumming up enough votes to pass the Senate GOP’s current repeal-and-replace bill.

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Unfortunately, Benge said, she doesn’t have any political power.

“All I have is my story,” she said. “The only thing I can do is yell into a bullhorn in front of Bryant’s Rent-All.”

Pence came to Kentucky on Wednesday to host a listening session with Lexington-based business people whose companies and employees have been negatively affected by the ACA, which has been congressional Republicans’ No. 1 target since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Repealing former President Barack Obama’s landmark health care law has been tough for the GOP even though they control Congress and the White House, but McConnell and other conservative leaders haven’t given up hope.

Pence, McConnell and other conservatives say the ACA must be repealed because it is driving up premiums and limiting Americans’ health insurance options.

But the approximately 150 people who stood alongside Benge outside Bryant’s Rent-All Wednesday afternoon and jeered Pence when he rolled into the parking lot were united in defense of the embattled health care law.

They wielded signs that praised the ACA and slammed the controversial replacement Republicans are considering, which would slash over $700 billion from Medicaid over the course of a decade.

“The integrity of our country...It’s not what it used to be,” said Diane Cahill of Lexington, whose 34-year-old son has a disability.

Cahill said her son receives benefits through Kentucky’s Medicaid program that allow him to attend an adult day program and work part-time with the help of a specialist. But she fears that support could disappear under the GOP’s proposed replacement for the ACA.

As the businesspeople who attended Pence’s listening session trickled out of the building late Wednesday afternoon, the crowd outside called out to them.

“Shame on you!” some said, while others chanted about American citizens’ right to receive health care.

Before they left, they applauded the police officers who had monitored the protest all afternoon.

Many of the people at the protest acknowledged that their demonstration wasn’t likely to change Pence’s mind about health care or anything else.

But people’s voices are still being heard, said Aundray Akbar of Lexington, who leaned against a white fence Wednesday afternoon as he and other people from the protest waited for Pence to emerge.

“And when you quietly show your face,” he said, “sometimes it means more.”

Contact reporter Morgan Watkins at 502-875-5136 or mwatkins@courier-journal.com.