Posted on 07/25/2009 6:04:09 AM PDT by NYer
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Two Republican leaders in the House of Representatives are confirming reports that the health care restructuring bill the House is currently considering promotes euthanasia. A leading patients rights advocate is worried about the effects of the legislation.
Betsy McCaughey, the former New York lieutenant government who is now a patient's rights advocate, notes that the government-run health care plan would require "end of life" counseling for seniors.
The counseling, she says, would be focused on telling seniors how to end their lives sooner.
In a statement sent to LifeNews.com House Republican Leader John Boehner Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter confirm those fears.
"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,'" the pair say.
That section "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. At a minimum this legislative language deserves a full and open public debate – the sort of debate that is impossible to have under the politically-driven deadlines Democratic leaders have arbitrarily set for enactment of a health care bill," they state.
The members of Congress call the section a throwback to 1977 when the old Department of Health Education and Welfare proposed federal promotion of living wills for cost-savings purposes described as "enormous."
At that time, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago decried this effort by saying, "'The message is clear: government can save money by encouraging old people to die a little sooner than they otherwise would. Instead of being regarded with reverence, and cherished, human life is subject in this view to a utilitarian cost-benefit calculus and can be sacrificed to serve fiscal policy and the sacred imperative of trimming a budget."
Boehner and McCotter are especially concerned about the provision given that Oregon and Washington have legalized assisted suicide and Montana has given conditional approval depending on the outcome of a state Supreme Court decision.
“With three states having legalized physician-assisted suicide, this provision could create a slippery slope for a more permissive environment for euthanasia, mercy-killing and physician-assisted suicide because it does not clearly exclude counseling about the supposed benefits of killing oneself," they say.
"Health care reform that fails to protect the sanctity and dignity of all human life is not reform at all," the conclude.
In section 1233 of the tri-committee health care bill, a government-run "Advance Care Planning Consultation" is created.
McCaughey, in an interview with former presidential candidate Fred Thompson on his radio show warned people to "protect their parents" from the measure and said the consultation is essentially an attempt to kill off elderly Americans.
"One of the most shocking things is page 425, where the Congress would make it mandatory absolutely that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session," she said. "They will tell [them] how to end their life sooner.
The bill calls for the recommendation of "palliative care and hospice" in the mandatory counseling sessions, which is pain relief as patients die.
The House bill requires "an explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title."
The measure also recommends a discussion on "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration," which suggests that elderly patients could be advised not to receive it, which would hasten death.
Ping!
If you do not attend, will the government then feel free to terminate you?
Or deny health care?
In the event of serious illness, mandatory euthanasia counseling sessions can be less than 5 years?
In the past patients have given doctors a god like image.
Now Messiah 0bamacare wants to play God, but the Messiah has not even taken time to read his own plan before rushing Congress to pass it !
Sounds like democrats are really getting down to brass tacks. Vote for us, we’ll rig the count if you don’t, and kill yourself when we say so. Yep. Sounds like the dem way!
AARP supports the President and their latest magazine lauded the “universal” health coverage. They are swine and are feeding off the elderly who believe AARP is on their side. Poor old folks.
I saw an elderly couple driving their car proudly displaying an obama sticker. Little do they realize that the current white house occupant has plans on denying them medical care in order to hasen their demise as they are obviously not worthy of being alive. The AARP is just a democrat mouthpiece with not an original thought in their head. God save us from the Evil One
I think this link will lead to a My Computer Scan download hack/scam. Very unusual for a Mac.
“Where the sHELL is AARP on this? This is insane.”
AARP is working to get this passed!
You think Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy have received their counseling yet? may they should start looking over their should.
I have believed for some time that we are heading into an “Entitlements Crash” where the number of government handout that are mandated by Law have increased to the point that even with 100% taxation and borrowing like mad that the payments won’t be able to continue because the Government will have to declare bankruptcy.
I can therefore foresee more and more “schemes” to reduce the number of beneficiaries to these Entitlements. And getting the recipients to self-terminate really is a huge money saver.
I can also foresee more encouragement to take up dangerous lifestyles so as to self-terminate even earlier. And I just don’t mean just sexual lifestyles, I also mean thrill seekers, more drug usage, (great for Overdose deaths there), and bunch more that don’t come to mind right away.
In retrospect, this was the solution to the SocSec and Medicaid boomer bubble all along. A quietly whispered “you don’t have to pay for them if they are dead” was all it took. Be afraid, be very afraid.
I know where NOT to move.
The problem with the USofA is that we have gotten so far from the Principles and Values of the Founding Fathers in the name of ‘multiculturalism’ that we’ve gotten lost. And this USofA is not that USofA and won’t be until we head back on course. It will take a STRONG President and STRONG Congress to grab controls of the Ship of State and turn us in the correct direction once again.
"Euthanasia? So, what's wrong with that!!??
Should be called the ‘Obama Health Kill Bill’.
Scary. It’s “Logan’s Run.”
Then maybe we need to tell them we are NOT US citizens, we are STATE Citizens as intended by the Founders.
"... a construction is to be avoided, if possible, that would render the law unconstitutional, or raise grave doubts thereabout. In view of these rules it is held that `citizen' means `citizen of the United States,' and not a person generally, nor citizen of a State ..."
U.S. Supreme Court in US v. Cruikshank, 92 US 542:
“Citizen of the United States”
In many cases the federal court does not have jurisdiction over a citizen unless they testify they are a citizen of the United States — meaning a federal citizen under the 14th Amendment.
-----
There is more than one type of citizen in our country, government knows this. They dupe the People into claiming to be US citizens so they can be controlled.
US citizens are creations of government via the 14th Amendment.
The People of the States are not citizens of THE United States, they are Citizens of THESE United States.
You can't claim to be part of the collective and then try to claim an individual right.
§ 1218. The inhabitants enjoy all their civil, religious, and political rights. They live substantially under the same laws, as at the time of the cession, such changes only having been made, as have been devised, and sought by themselves. They are not indeed citizens of any state, entitled to the privileges of such; but they are citizens of the United States. They have no immediate representatives in congress.
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution
But since the media is telling them that "the healthcare bill is dead," they'll forget about it, and it'll be shoved up our collective @sses anyway.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.