In debate, Democratic candidates talk ‘Medicare For All,’ opioids, and abortion rights

The fourth Democratic debate was held in Ohio last night, and the health care discussion predictably turned first to “Medicare for All.” But the event also included talk of the opioid crisis and reproductive health care, a topic that Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) early on pointed out had hardly been brought up during the previous debates. When it came to opioids, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) called for making pharma companies “pay for the addictions they have caused and the people they have killed.” The conversation on reproductive health care focused on the recent wave of abortion bans after six weeks of pregnancy. Many of the candidates said they would respond by codifying 1973’s Roe v. Wade decision into federal law. Interestingly, Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) added that, if elected, his White House would create an office of reproductive freedom to help maintain abortion rights.