Are we really to believe that the democrats didn't try to create some kind of deathboard policy when they are the same party that tells us that its a woman's right to choose because it either reduces crime, beneifits to the poor economically, or just plain good for population control. I think its not to much of an intellectual leap to go from advocating for voluntary infanticide to advocating suggestive suicide for the elderly by the government.
Give Me a Fudgin Break Obama!
Get real. You and the other nuts that keep claiming there is some kind of deathbed policy know damn well that it isn't true. You're all liars. Plain and simple.
At least two Republican leaders have echoed this end-of-life distortion. On July 23, Republican Rep.
John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, released a statement, along with Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, saying that the bill would encourage euthanasia:
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 can’t argue with Boehner’s claim that counseling “may” cause more seniors to refuse treatment such as artificial nutrition and hydration, but we see no evidence that it will. There’s 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 patientsÂ’ 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, thatÂ’s 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 BoehnerÂ’s and McCotterÂ’s 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 BoehnerÂ’s misinterpretation of the bipartisan bill:
Rep. Blumenauer, July 24: In a statement from the minority leader Â… there is an allegation that somehow there is legislation in the health care draft that may place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign that may start us down a "treacherous path towards government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law."
Well, Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. Had the minority leader, and his whip, and the conference Chair bothered to check how that legislation came to be enacted into our health care legislation, they would have found out that it was work of a bipartisan group of Ways and Means Committee members. There were Republicans cosponsoring it along with Democrats. Â…
WeÂ’re seeking Â… to be able to adjust Medicare so that it speaks to the needs of American seniors and their families, that theyÂ’re given the attention they need to prepare for this difficult period of time. ThereÂ’s nothing in this legislation that would force people to have consultations. ThereÂ’s nothing that would force them to sign advance directives. ItÂ’s not going to choose a health care professional by the government and force it on them. Â…
Mr. Speaker, I canÂ’t tell you how disappointed I was to see this type of reaction to a carefully crafted piece of legislation that weÂ’ve been working on for more than 6 months that is bipartisan and that speaks to the needs of American families.
Blumenauer also discussed the importance of advance planning on life-extension treatment. "[T]oo often senior citizens and their families are not given the information they need to be able to cope with the most serious situation any of us will ever face as we have a loved one move into the end of his or her life," he said. "We had Â… Republican committee members talk about how their loved ones didnÂ’t get that type of help at the end of life and actually were subjected to things that they thought were not in the best interests of their loved one. If they had a choice, they wouldnÂ’t have done it over again, and it didnÂ’t prolong their life, it actually made them less comfortable."
Do you get it now???
