A handful of protesters were planning to spend a second night in U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s Denver office Wednesday, vowing to remain there until Gardner pledges to oppose the GOP’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Nine people, many of them disabled, spent the night Tuesday, saying in social media posts that they were locked into the downtown Denver building after being threatened with arrest. Their number grew to 12 by Wednesday morning.

Aides to the Colorado Republican said the protesters were never asked to leave and that one of his staff members stayed with them in the office overnight.

The protesters want Gardner to commit to keeping home and community-based services that would be lost in the health care bill now being considered by the U.S. Senate, ADAPT organizer Dawn Russell said. ADAPT is a national program based in Colorado that organizes disability rights activists in nonviolent action.

After the health care bill was released last week, disability-rights protesters, some in wheelchairs, were arrested and forcibly removed from the hallway outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office in Washington.

The local protest is part of nationwide action by ADAPT.

Colorado was the first state to adopt attendant services, which can include help with everything from bathing and toileting to cooking and cleaning, Russell said. A year and a half ago, ADAPT started talking to Gardner about creating a national program that mirrors Colorado’s.

But instead of expanding, that program is now on the line. Protesters fear that without it, many will end up back in nursing homes, losing their independence.

“Long before the town hall became an issue, even before this new administration was elected, we were already working with Sen. Gardner on this issue,” Russell said. “It just became critical. We were so lucky to be ahead of that game.”

An aide to Gardner said his staff took time to hear the protesters’ stance on health care policy.

“The senator’s state director spoke with them earlier today to ensure he listened to all of their concerns regarding potential health care legislation,” Casey Contres, a Gardner spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday. “The organization currently in the office has spoken to Sen. Gardner several times and are in constant contact with his health care policy staff regarding requested reforms to our health care system.”

Russell said she appreciated the dialogue that has opened up in the morning, roughly 24 hours after ADAPT started its sit in. She hopes this is a sign that further progress can be made.

Kimberley Jackson, a former family physician in Pueblo who had to stop her practice in 2012 after developing an intestinal disease, said she now needs a nutritional IV that costs roughly $16,000 per month — a cost covered by Medicaid. She’s terrified that the Senate health care bill will pass and she will lose her Medicaid coverage.

“I would lose my Medicaid, I would lose my nutrition, and I would likely have two weeks to live,” she said.

Jackson, who started out with the group Tuesday morning, left and later came back with a sleeping bag and IV nutrition around 1 a.m. She and two others spent the night outside protesting in solidarity with the group upstairs.

The protesters said they worked with building security officers to allow people to bring in supplies. Jackson also brought the protesters breakfast Wednesday morning.

Kalyn Heffernan, one of the protesters who spent the night, said Gardner’s office had begun to resemble a dorm room, with blankets, pillows and food everywhere. People began to redecorate the waiting room, putting flyers over photos of Gardner.

She said people have been very supportive of the group, sending them food and drinks — so much so that the group sent some of the food to the people outside.

Although the floor is hard, the protesters say they will stay in Gardner’s office as long as necessary — even through the July break — until Gardner says he will vote against the Senate bill.

“We can do everything we can and hope our government does what’s right for the people,” Jackson said.

The group will not become complacent because the vote was delayed. “If anything, we have to double our efforts now that the bill was delayed, not back off,” Jackson said.

Staff writer Mark K. Matthews contributed to this article.

Hey @SenCoryGardner we ain't leaving your denver office till you vote NO pic.twitter.com/jRaMZIihI3 — WheelchairSportsCamp (@wcsportscamp) June 27, 2017