'protracted debates' is a perfectly correct and usable phrase in written English.
It is used to refer to a debate or argument that has gone on for a long time. For example: "The political negotiations have involved some very protracted debates as the two sides have been unable to agree on the major issues."
On Long Island last summer, two school districts, fearful of being exclusionary, had protracted debates over whether to let the Scouts meet in school buildings.
Children suffer far more from these battles than they would if their parents' protracted debates were shortened by several years by being exposed to public scrutiny.
Several of Mr. Clinton's advisers said in recent interviews that fears of casualties and protracted debates in Congress and among allies explained the caution on the use of American ground troops in Kosovo.
Republicans are deeply worried that they will be drawn into protracted debates with the White House.
We have become accustomed to protracted debates about who should serve on the Supreme Court.
One can only imagine the protracted debates and inter-band wrangling in that most fractious of groups.
Each issue has generated protracted debate.
Raeburn once watched a protracted debate between Barker and Alan Lomax, the nation's best-known ethnomusicologist, at a jazz symposium in New Orleans.
"This is especially pertinent in Ceredigion, where there has been protracted debate as to the future of Bronglais hospital and other cottage hospitals in the county.
The release of the harrowing video of Scott's death intensified an already protracted debate on the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color, and Scott's name became a rallying cry for supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and police reformers.
For purposes of the present article, and in order to avoid protracted debate about what constitutes 'fairness' (26), discussion on the philosophical perspectives that have been used to explain health inequities will be restricted only to those that may be relevant for evaluating the common measures of health inequities in program evaluation.
