In the fictional world of Underworld, death dealers were created by Vampires in order to put down Lycans (werewolves) by silver bullets and, later, bullets containing silver nitrate. In the real world of Obamacare, congresspersons riddle euthanasia concepts into health-care legislation. Here’s an example from the American Thinker:
. . . the government is going to help [seniors] plan how they want to die. This benevolent plan is in Section 1233 (p. 424) of the health care reform bill known as “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009″ (HR 3200). It didn’t just show up on the doorstep of health care reform, but was packaged and delivered by Compassion & Choices (C & C), the assisted-suicide advocacy group previously known as the Hemlock Society.
Under Section 1233, a doctor would be paid for having an “advance care planning consultation” with a patient. The consultation wouldn’t be mandatory, at least for now. But if the doctor wants to get paid for it, the consultation’s contents are very specifically prescribed. For example, each consultation “shall include” an explanation of legal documents such as living wills and durable powers of attorney, and information about the “continuum of end-of-life services.“ Patients need not be ill but, because they are over a certain age, their doctors will suggest that it’s time to talk about death.
The background of Section 1233 sheds some light on its inclusion in the health care reform bill.According to C & C’s newsletter, the organization has worked long and hard for such language, which is “part of a great advance in end-of-life care, building upon several years of thoughtful and strategic groundwork.” C & C proudly acknowledges its leadership role in placing Section 1233 in the bill: “Compassion & Choices and its supporters have worked tirelessly with supportive members of Congress to include in proposed reform legislation a provision requiring Medicare to cover patient consultation with their doctors about end-of-life choice (section 1233 of House Bill 3200).” . . .
C & C has worked hand in hand with Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer who it describes as a “long-time supporter of individual choice.” Indeed, Blumenauer has been an outspoken supporter of Oregon’s assisted-suicide law, the “Death with Dignity Act.” During a floor speech in 1998, he stated:“In Oregon, our legislation, Death with Dignity, is still a work in progress, but the fact is the preliminary evidence suggests that this option may actually reduce the incidence of violent suicide while easing the burden on both the individual and their family….”As we age as a society, exponentially, with the increase of the elderly population, and just the growth in our population, this will become more serious….The evidence suggests that Americans support the principles of Death with Dignity.” . . . Writing about Section 1233 in the Huffington Post, Blumenauer stated, “Actually, I know a little bit about this section because it’s a bill that I wrote which was incorporated into the overall legislation.”
So there you have it. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, death dealer. Fortunately, we poor Lycans have our own means of dealing with legislation such as this proposed by the good congressman. It’s called contacting our representatives.
HT: Wesley J. Smith at Secondhand Smoke.
