Obama Reinstates End of Life Manual for Veterans

AC writer Linda Louise Johnson recently published an article titled, Veterans Asked If Life is Worth Living. That article begs an important discussion into what may be in store for Americans under an Obama plan.

In a country that enjoys advancements in technology and extremely qualified doctors, our heroic veterans must navigate through a woefully inadequate federal healthcare system.

In 1997, the VA had a 52-page end-of-life manual, "Your Life, Your Choices." This planning manual appeared to assist our vets in preparing a living will. It became clear to the Bush administration that it was being utilized for nefarious reasons and its use was suspended. The Obama administration reinstated the end of life manual.

The discussion of whether or not the Bush administration suspended its usage or not is not material to the healthcare debate. Far too often we take a schoolyard approach when debating matters with political implications.

Pointing to past bad behavior should never justify current bad behavior. Taking a position of "well they did it" only breeds an environment that fosters malfeasance and allows nefarious designs to thrive.

We have failed our veterans; this includes the single-payer healthcare system they must endure. Yes, even the guy I voted for did not do enough for our veterans; that should never be an excuse for complacency.

As the nation debates healthcare reform, we have a unique glimpse into the practices of Barack Obama; what he has done, what he is doing and what he is advocating.

A smart person can learn from his or her mistakes, a smarter person has the ability to learn from the mistakes made by others.

The veterans' manual may offer a glimpse into the end of life counseling policies in Obamacare. The lead author of Your Life, Your Choice is Dr. Robert Pearlman. He is an advocate for physician-assisted suicide and a proponent for healthcare rationing.

Additionally, one of the resources is Compassion and Choices, formerly known as the Hemlock Society. The founder of the Hemlock Society describes the organization as "The largest and oldest right-to-die organization in America fighting for voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide to be made legal for terminally and hopelessly ill adults."

One of Hemlock's principal achievements during a "stormy life" were to, "Educate and advise thousands of dying people to know how to bring about their peaceful ends when dying, trapped in a ruined body, or just plain terminally old, frail, and tired of life."

Also from the Hemlock Society, "The noun hemlock can be a conifer tree or a waterweed. It was the root of the weed that was used in classical Greek and Roman times as a deadly poison when death by suicide was either ordered by the state or chosen by a rational person."

In an April, NY Times interview, Barack Obama questioned the hip replacement surgery his terminally ill grandmother received and had this to say regarding the cost of such procedures, "I mean, the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here."

The interviewer, David Leonhart, asked the follow-up question, So how do you, how do we deal with it? The president answered, "Well, I think that there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists."

Say what you want about Sarah Palin, but her comment about "death panels" resonated quite well with some Senators and the end of life counseling provision in Obamacare is receiving bipartisan support to kill it.

That is the point of discourse and if we continue to shoot the messenger we will never receive any messages.

Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pa, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee said the veterans' manual raises "a lot of questions" and that he would call for hearings immediately. Specter added, "I think consideration ought to be given right now to suspending it pending hearings."

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has removed the end of life manual from its web-site.

Folks, I ask it often and I continue here; is your ideology trumping your good sense?

Sources: http://www.assistedsuicide.org/farewell-to-hemlock.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/23/sen-specter-calls-hearings-end-life-care-guide-veterans/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03Obama-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574358590107981718.html