Image Stolen from LeftBanker
“On former Sen. Fred Thompson’s radio show, former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey said that the House’s proposed health care bill contained a provision that would institute mandatory counseling sessions telling seniors how "to do what’s in society’s best interest … and cut your life short." House Minority Leader John Boehner made a slightly more measured statement, warning that the same provision "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law."
Factcheck.org http://www.factcheck.org/2009/07/false-euthanasia-claims/
I guess Republicans think President Obama is going go around and tell every senior citizen to drop dead of something.
What the bill really says is that doctors will be paid if they help people make living wills, and for an effective living will to work it takes a Doctor to help; even a lawyer who specializes in medical issues would have a hard time making a living will that accurately expresses a persons wishes over when to end their life.
Living wills are tough things, You have to decide when you personally feel life isn’t worth living.
If you are a devote Catholic that’s easy. Use any and all measures to keep blood moving in your body even if it only prolongs your life by a few seconds or else you’ve committed a sin.
For the rest of us, and this includes most Catholics, it’s not so easy. When you want someone to stop taking extreme measures to save your life is a deeply individual choice.
For instance I’ve stated that I don’t want to be a drooling vegetable. That will help the doctors somewhat but not completely, What if I’m in coma and have a small chance of recovery? How long should I be artificially kept alive, what percentage of chance of recovery should I set as the cutoff for the doctors to stop trying?
These are things that can only be determined by meeting with a doctor beforehand to let the doctors know after I can’t say anything what my wishes are.
The funny thing this part of the bill is designed to make this very individual decision, something between you and your doctor and keep the government out that decision. Something that these same people are claiming Healthcare reform will limit.
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Another funny objection to Healthcare Reform I’ve heard (This isn’t a lie, just a statement from ignorance) is:“Why if I’m making $250,000 a year should I care if 50 million don’t have health insurance?”
Speaking as someone who used to make that I can tell you why, and do it parroting Brad Pitt’s speech in “Fight Club.”
“We (uninsured people) are the people who cook your food when you go out, we hand you your change when you buy something, we are the independent contractors you hire like the stripper at your private meetings, we are the hooker (sorry escort) that your wife hires as a birthday gift, we are the people who clean your Jacuzzis, we people you come in contact with everyday.
“If you allow us to become breeding grounds for disease, no amount of money will shield you from it. Diseases don’t care how big your bank account is or what type of car you drive. To them one host is as good as another and if you let them spread, they will seek you out.
“In other words: Don’t Fuck with us!”
I think that answers the question.
