BOSTON (AP) In Massachusetts contentious U.S. Senate race, few issues divide the two candidates more sharply than the health care law signed by President Barack Obama and upheld by the Supreme Court.

Republican Scott Brown ran for the Senate in 2010 vowing to be the crucial 41st vote needed to block the initiative, which ultimately passed despite his opposition. He remains critical of the law.

His Democratic challenger, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren, has praised the Affordable Care Act, which was modeled after a 2006 Massachusetts law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican. Warren said the federal law has helped expand access to health care in Massachusetts and the nation.

Last months Supreme Court ruling has only intensified the debate.

The latest salvo came from Brown in response to reports that U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent.

Brown called the numbers grim and faulted in part what he said were the job-killing taxes on individuals, families and small businesses that Warren supports, including those in the health care law.

These are bad ideas under normal circumstances, but with our economy teetering on the brink, Professor Warrens economic prescription would push us over the precipice, Brown said in a statement.

Warren has been equally emphatic in her support of the law and her criticism of Brown.

This decision ensures that millions of children, seniors, and families will continue to benefit from health care reform, Warren said in a statement after the ruling was announced.

Warren has highlighted some of the laws more popular elements including banning insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing medical conditions and allowing adult children to stay on their parents insurance until age 26.

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In Mass. Senate Race, Health Care Still Hot Topic