Healthcare debate brings out emotions on all sides

Lined up outside of Kirkbride Hall, three protesters stood with signs reading, "Abortion is not healthcare," "No taxpayer-funded abortion," and "As future nurses, don't make us participate in abortion."

Sophomores Maria Lort and Gina Paladinetti along with graduate student Nick Cotter protested the inclusion of abortions in President Barack Obama's proposed healthcare plan at a College Democrats and College Republicans debate on Oct. 6 in Kirkbride.

Cotter said all three students are pro-life and do not believe the new healthcare bill should cover abortions.

"The Democrats keep saying that there's nowhere in the bill that abortions are included, but, the fact is, without a specific exclusion of abortions, they would be considered healthcare," Lort said. "It's part of women's services, so it would automatically be funded."

According to "The New York Times," Democratic Congressional leaders have said the most recent House and Senate healthcare bills have preserved the current ban on federal abortion financing, meaning insurers can only use money from private sources to pay for abortions.

Paladinetti said they are looking for a specific bill to exclude abortions.

 "Every amendment that would try to mention that abortions would be specifically excluded and that anything healthcare providers find doing as objectionable against their conscious, and they wouldn't have to participate in, the Democrats haven't passed," she said. "Since they have the majority, the amendment keeps getting shot down."

Lort said she is looking for the Democrats to step forward to make sure that an exclusion bill is developed.

"Tonight, I want to see the Democrats say ‘This is what we would do to make sure this doesn't happen,' " Lort said.

The topic of abortion, though, was not discussed during the debate.

Inside, the debate touched on the topics of illegal immigrants being covered by the healthcare plan, citizens who wanted to choose not to be a part of the plan and the inclusion of a public option on any healthcare bill.

Student Emily Manz, moderator of the event, had to bring an end to several disagreements between audience members and debaters during the question-and-answer portion of the event.

An audience member asked both the Republican debaters and Democrat debaters why President Obama continued to say 47 million Americans don't have health insurance, when he had heard recently that number has been discredited.

This question, along with answers from both sides, created a disagreement between the audience members and both parties of debaters. Manz had to bring her water bottle down, a gavel, onto her moderator's table five times before the argument subsided.

Manz stood and thanked the audience and debaters for their attendance at the event.

Senior Tyler Adair, treasurer of College Democrat, said he was impressed with the debate.

"We held our annual College Democrats and College Republicans debate last year, and it was much more structured than it was this year," Adair said. "This year was like a free-for-all. Both sides were very opinionated."

Junior John Daniel Hill, a member of College Republicans, said the debate turned out a large and enthusiastic crowd.

"What the debaters said wasn't really surprising to me," Hill said. "Both sides argued exactly what their party supports."