Posted on 08/31/2009 6:11:34 PM PDT by markomalley
First there were angry senior citizens at town hall meetings, literally fearing for their lives. They're worried that under the President's proposed health care plan they'll be denied critical life-saving services because of their age. There's good reason for their concern. And what's come to light since then won't make them sleep any easier.
The Obama administration now seems to have our nation's veterans in the crosshairs. Perhaps you've heard about the booklet Your Life Your Choices-also known as the Death Book for Veterans. This book is particularly alarming, so I want to share some detail you may not have heard.
I have the book on my desk. Part of it consists of reasonable dialogue on the importance of sharing your wishes regarding potential future medical treatment with trusted family members or friends. I agree that communication before a health crisis arises is key. But look at one section titled "What makes your life worth living?" It lists 18 potential physical conditions, and the veteran is required to check which column reflects his outlook on life. One of those columns is "not worth living." I'm all for personal autonomy in choosing appropriate health care, but this booklet clearly crosses the line.
Keep in mind it's designed for veterans, some who've recently returned from the Middle East, missing limbs or sight. Others may be dealing with paralysis or traumatic brain injuries. Many are looking at months or years of rehabilitation-facing a future that's dramatically and often permanently altered. The physical wounds are accompanied by the infliction of psychological damage: depression, the fear of being dependent on others or financial concerns.
It is in this context that some of our war heroes will read Your Life Your Choices. After each of the 18 scenarios on page 21, a veteran is to ask himself or herself if life would be worth living. But a scant few actually reflect life-threatening situations. Most indicate less critical burdens like being confined to a wheelchair, incontinence or not being able to "shake the blues." Some don't reflect the physical condition of the veteran at all, but instead how others will be affected: being a financial burden, not able to contribute to the family well being, or causing stress for other family members. These make me wonder-whose suffering is this booklet designed to alleviate?
The "instructions" that follow sent a chill up my spine. If the veteran more than once checked the column called "worth living, but just barely," he or she is asked what combination of those would it take to make his or her life "not worth living"? If the veteran checked "can't answer now" he or she is asked what would it take to "help you decide"? See page 21 in its entirety here.
The obvious purpose of this booklet is to be an advance directive of sorts for medical treatment. Several of the pages even asked for the veteran's initials and date. But at the back of the booklet where resources are listed, the only group indicated under "advance directives" is Choice in Dying, formerly known as the Euthanasia Society. The purpose of this organization is solely to advocate euthanasia.
The Veterans Administration might as well abandon all subtleties, dig a grave and push our nation's heroes into it. We owe a debt of gratitude to America's veterans that we can never repay. The VA has not only brought shame upon its department but also on our whole nation.
After the group Aging with Dignity brought this booklet to light, a disclaimer has been added that a revision is in the works. But no amount of change can take away the stain of the intended purpose-to nudge America's war heroes toward the grave in an effort to protect limited government resources. If you'd like to see the entire publication, click here.
Please contact the Veterans Administration: vhaethics@va.gov Phone: 202.501.0364. Mail: National Center for Ethics in Health Care, Veterans Health Administration (10E), 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20420.
Tell them America's veterans deserve better.
Dog! they don’t even do this in Britain, do they?
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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
Time to throw the men and women who kept this country free for so long under the bus. We don’t need them anymore. Freedom is the past! The slavery of communism is the future! - Any commie ‘RAT.
Yes they do it in Englandistan. They cut benefits for seniors and give it to “asylum seekers’ aka illegal aliens usually Africans and Muslims.
Obama is doing the SAME things in America. Islamification, wiping out the middle class, etc - all be done in the UK.
Yeah, they wanna kill babies and grandmas.
Your opinion may well change, though, if you should end up in a wheelchair. I've known people in wheelchairs, and many of them were pretty chipper and considered their lives worth living.
You may also think, now, that you wouldn't want to be a burden on your loved ones. But you may be underestimating your loved ones. My first wife spent the last five years of her life on dialysis. It was an inspiration to me that she kept going. I don't in the least regret those extra years with her, and I never considered her a burden.
Just remember that when you end up in a wheelchair, or on dialysis, or carrying an oxygen tank, or whatever, you may then decide that life is still worth living. Don't foreclose that possibility now with an advanced directive.
Sign a durable power of attorney, giving someone you trust the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf when you're no longer able to do so yourself. And decide you'll hang in there as long as you can.
A copy can be had at
www.rihlp.org/pubs/Your_life_your_choices.pdf
This is nothing more than liberal PC propaganda that begs How much is your life worth? It isn’t much, is it? How about snuffing yourself now? Oh, and by the way, here’s how to make arrangements for your carcass: donated body parts, contact a funeral director, make a will and then end it.
I'm glad that General Douglas MacArthur is no longer here now that the Obama Administration has an updated version.
"Old soldiers never seem to die, they just get in the way."
Thought you all might enjoy this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-daMfFacrDs
Obama DeathCare supporter mouths off and gets threatening with taser by cops, put on ground and handcuffed!
Liberals can make it culturally cool for people to dehumanize, hurt and hate elderly people as they move to make the “choice” of killing them another political and social struggle like abortion. With the plan to take inheritances, liberals will have all the more reason to kill those with personal retirement funds as early as possible. The "extreme right" is going to have another huge battle for innocent life to wage. There will be more "haters" knocking off leftist exterminators. Oh boy!
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