Modbert
Daydream Believer
- Sep 2, 2008
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False Euthanasia Claims | FactCheck.org
Now where have I heard that name Charles Boustany before.
Oh right..
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mObCO8mpGPs]YouTube - GOP Response to Barack Obama Speech to Congress: Rep. Charles Boustany [R-LA][/ame]
Boehner/McCotter statement, July 23: Section 1233 of the House-drafted legislation encourages health care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration and other end of life treatments, and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressured to sign end of life directives they would not otherwise sign. This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law.
We cant argue with Boehners claim that counseling may cause more seniors to refuse treatment such as artificial nutrition and hydration, but we see no evidence that it will. Theres certainly no requirement in the bill that seniors decline life support or extraordinary measures of medical treatment.
Furthermore, seniors have had control over the end-of-life issues the Republicans are concerned about for a long time. California first legally ratified the use of advance directives like living wills in 1976, and the 1990 Patient Self-Determination Act mandated patients rights to decide what degree of intervention they prefer.
Though there are still controversies over what care patients should be allowed to refuse and under what circumstances, the fact is that the right to refuse care is nothing new.
As for the argument claiming that this is the first step on a slippery slope leading to government-encouraged euthanasia, thats a stretch. The right to draw up an advance directive is federally guaranteed, but doctor-assisted suicide is legal in only three states. It would take a lot more than Medicare-funded counseling for voluntary euthanasia to become a standard government recommendation.
The original author of this part of the legislation responded to Boehners and McCotters statement on the House floor, saying that "nothing could be further from the truth." The section under question was based on a stand-alone piece of legislation sponsored by Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Republican Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana. Three more Democrats and another Republican cosponsored the legislation. On July 24, Blumenauer expressed his "disappointment" in Boehners misinterpretation of the bipartisan bill:
Now where have I heard that name Charles Boustany before.
Oh right..
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mObCO8mpGPs]YouTube - GOP Response to Barack Obama Speech to Congress: Rep. Charles Boustany [R-LA][/ame]