This Thing Made Me Take Pause...

There I was standing in line today, like I was taught in Kindergarten. One of the most useful things I was taught by the way. Along with asking permission, saying thank you, and that chewing gum is really hard to get out of your hair. I was standing in line waiting, as being in line may indicate, I was waiting for my turn and watching the monitor that had beein hung there to distract us line people from the fact that we really were having to wait, and it was playing the news highlights from around the world, when something caught my eye.

You guessed it, I had to take pause.

The snippet stated something to the fact that under the proposed new healthcare legislation, there would include the creation of a new branch that would counsel the elderly, and disabled, (read those who recieve social security benefits), on their right to die.

Yes you read it right, their right to die. Being of a curious nature, and not wanting to jump on anyone's wagon before knowing at least a communicative amount of facts. I let my fingers do the walking thru my good friend google and this is what I found...

“I’ve read about a third of HR 3200 and the counseling parts are designed to encourage euthanasia,” claimed Dr. Katherine Schlaerth, an associate professor of family medicine at Loma Linda University School of Medicine. “Seniors will be counseled every five years, and more often if they get sicker.”

“Patients who have a worsening of their chronic condition, but who may not even be pre-terminal, are included in this strong-arm counseling, and their respect for authority figures could pave the way for agreement with cessation of care not in their interest at all,” Schlaerth said. “Health-care providers, meanwhile, may be forced to give counseling directly opposed to their religious or moral beliefs.”

Many people are in agreement with this interpretation. Read on.

“Section 1233 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 pressure to sign an end-of-life directive they would not otherwise sign,” said the House Republican leader, John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the Republican Policy Committee chairman, Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., in a July 23 statement. “This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia.”

Yes you did read that correctly, Euthanasia.

Now previously I had determined that my next blog was going to be about the credit card companies, of which I do still have to say, but this tidbit just made me stop, and well you know, take pause. I mentioned in an earlier posting, my suspicion on how this might turn out, but now that I have been validated, instead of gratification, I am actually scared.

The legislative language of the bill regarding counseling is vague and open to interpretation. “I’m a lawyer, and I find this language incomprehensible,” stated Wesley J. Smith, associate director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. “I believe it is done maliciously. What is clear is that seniors will receive counseling — read ‘re-education’ — every five years or whenever their health status changes. The point is to reduce cost. While the language doesn’t require it, these mandatory sessions will often be directed towards not wanting care, in much the same way that genetic counseling of a mother carrying a Down [syndrome] fetus often is directed toward abortion.”

Section 1233 does state the counselling will be performed by a doctor or other practitioner, however, they are directed to provide a list of national and state specific departments that can provide further information. These departments are specifically instructed to offer choices and options on how to end the life, rather than preserve it.

Yea, I think thats all I have to say about that...


Props to: http://www.ncregister.com/daily/health_care_duty_to_die/