It was truly an historic moment when the US House of Representatives voted in favour of President Obama's Healthcare Bill.
The winning 219-212 margin was larger than expected, with only 216 votes needed for the Bill to pass.
The new legislation will clearly benefit millions of Americans who previously had either inadequate or no health insurance cover.
However, with the new laws unlikely to take effect immediately and with several individual states, including Florida, threatening to challenge the new legislation in the courts, many conservatives will use this opportunity to raise strong opposition to the Bill.
What has been most interesting is how the conservative right-wing in the US has viewed the introduction of this Bill as an attack on the freedom of the American people and criticised it as allowing too much Government interference in their lives. Their thinking is so far behind that of many European countries, who have been governed by both Socialist and Conservative governments in equal measure, whilst at the same time enjoying universal Healthcare for generations.
It is clear that the President had to compromise a great deal to win over those Democrats worried about losing their seats in this year's Congressional elections. Many campaigners will be greatly upset that, in order to gain the support of sceptical Democrats, Mr Obama has promised that money raised by the Bill will not be used to pay for state-funded abortions.
How many more compromises will have to be reached to ensure the full implementation of this Bill in the years to come?
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