"NARAL has a clear message for Democratic lawmakers: if you support Republicans in their effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, NARAL, our one million member activists, and our PAC will not support you in 2018 or beyond," NARAL President Ilyse Hogue said. | Getty Liberal group warns Democrats on Obamacare

A prominent liberal outside group issued a stern warning Thursday to Democratic senators who might help Republicans replace Obamacare: Do so at your own political peril.

The broadside from the pro-abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America came hours after POLITICO reported that some Senate Democrats would be open to working to rebuild the health care law as long as Obamacare’s core components are preserved. NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue responded that “Democrats should not learn the wrong lessons from 2016. If they do, they will be without our support in 2018.”


“NARAL has a clear message for Democratic lawmakers: if you support Republicans in their effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, NARAL, our one million member activists, and our PAC will not support you in 2018 or beyond,” Hogue said in a statement. “Republican leaders have made clear their only intention is to repeal the law. They do not have now, nor are they likely to ever have, a meaningful plan to ‘replace’ this historic expansion of Americans’ health care. Democrats should not play this game with them.”

The pre-emptive strike shows the competing political imperatives of the Democratic Party as it braces for Obamacare to be repealed early next year. Republicans are planning to gut the law but delay the repeal's implementation for possibly years, betting that endangered Democrats would rather cooperate on a new law than see millions lose insurance.

There are 25 Democrats up for reelection in 2018, including 10 in states that Donald Trump won. They could come under pressure to cooperate with Republicans so that millions of people don’t lose health coverage.