Why you need an independent guidance group for end times

Who would that be--the group that Obama said in April you needed to help you make decisions about end of life. Well, maybe his chief medical advisor, Ezekiel Emanuel.

"Someone like Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health advisor to Obama, and Zeke's brother Rahm, who loves to hurl thunderbolts from Mount Olympus and bully freshman congressmen. They and their ilk will give us "guidance" about who is worthwhile, who is ready to die, who shall live a week or two longer. Zeke is a Harvard academic who is arrogant enough to believe that he can change human nature and decide the most intimate and complex of human issues -- those of life and death. The man, a bona fide MD, clearly prefers writing bushels of words about what's good or bad for society to caring for people and being responsible for suffering patients. The soft-spoken arrogance and vanity of this administration is sometimes stunning.

Dr. Emanuel thinks health care must be distributed according to the group to which an individual belongs. Valued groups include young and healthy persons, and favored racial and gender groups. Those of less value, of course, are those with medical problems and the elderly.

According to Emanuel's "Complete Life" plan, society's scarce resources should be spent mostly on those under 40 years of age. ["Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not." Dr. Emamuel, Lancet, Jan. 31, 2009] Old folks get what's left over as determined by him and his ilk. How they will make their decisions is not at all clear." American Thinker.

Let's be nice to condemned murderers, terrorists, and abortionists. Those old timers need to go. They've lived their time. It's the liberal, caring way.

Obama's cost cutting measure--recommending death

The scariest thing in the whole bill, if you're over 65 or disabled by an accident or disease (others are included in Medicare, not just seniors) is this

"One troubling provision of the House bill compels seniors to submit to a counseling session every five years (and more often if they become sick or go into a nursing home) about alternatives for end-of-life care (House bill, p. 425-430). The sessions cover highly sensitive matters such as whether to receive antibiotics and "the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration."

This mandate invites abuse, and seniors could easily be pushed to refuse care. Do we really want government involved in such deeply personal issues?

For more fun and games read McCaughey's entire article, and check the link to the 1018 page bill. It's zipping around the internet via e-mail (thanks Charlie), but it's always a good idea to check the original source, rather than a forward. After the Terri debacle my husband and I wrote up all our end-of-life instructions, and even after 45 years of marriage and knowing each other longer, we disagreed on what certain terms meant and delved into the medical literature. Don't assume someone you know well understands your values and beliefs or your tolerance for pain. Put it in writing. And certainly don't leave it up to the government to counsel you when you're ill and vulnerable.