Speaking of dieing…

// August 14th, 2009 // Musings

white house
(photo White House by phototram)

Having recently had my aunt pass away I am keenly interested in how people people face death. My aunt showed an incredible amount of strength in spirit as she faced her own mortality. She had been fighting ovarian cancer for years before getting to the point where there were no other options, at which point she began to work on her memorial and spend her time expressing her feelings to her loved ones with the energy she had left.

I love her and miss her.

This morning I read an article in the Boston Globe(paper copy) that stated “Senators eliminate end-of-life provision“. For those of you who don’t know, the provision in question allows for patients to speak to their doctors about their medical options when dealing with death in the current health care reform bill that is currently being fought over debated.

This really depresses me.

Basically, opponents of this provision have turned this into a question of putting old people down like pets. They refer to it as the “death panel” provision. The fear here is that if the government gets involved in health care the choice of who gets care will also include a choice of who will be killed off for the betterment of the nation.

How is it that this issue is being dropped. Isn’t it important for patients to talk to their doctors about living wills and who will make choices in case the patient is no longer capable. Where are all the cancer walkers and the democrats? Why is it so easy to convince everyone that talking to your doctor about death means you are talking about euthanas?

It’s just heartbreaking that this is being dropped. I guess it’s insane that this was the focus of the debate when the whole health care system costs and quality at large is really what is at issue with this bill… no?

4 Responses to “Speaking of dieing…”

  1. BlueAlvarez says:
    August 14, 2009 at 10:01 am

    I am so sorry for your loss. The "death panel" thing doesn't make any sense to me either. Have people really gotten so twisted up about government's hand in health care that they can talk themselves into equating death with dignity with euthanasia? Seriously, this close to moving to Canada.

  2. Alison says:
    September 15, 2009 at 8:41 am

    We can all talk to our doctors about our end of life options without a legal provision in a bill, the government doesn't need to be involved, do they?

  3. Shepherd Jim says:
    October 19, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Sad: two months have passed since Guido's post and there has not been much progress.

    The fanatical opposition to ANY healthcare reform is being being underwritten by the insurance industry and driven by ultra-conservatives and racists (sorry, no other word more applicable) who hope the President fails at whatever he attempts, no matter what or how. Their need for his failure is so strong they don't see all of the negative effects on the entire country that will come along with that failure.

    The first paragraph of the Boston Globe article cited by Guido reads:
    "A plan to provide hospice counseling and other end-of-life advice to patients and their families is being dropped by US Senate health care negotiators after critics charged that it would lead to the formation of federal "death panels,'' a key GOP senator said yesterday."

    …so it was that the govt would have been involved with funding making it possible for people to discuss their end of life options. Not that the govt was to be involved in those discussions. One could argue that by denying the funding, the govt IS involving itself in that discussion insofar as they are making it much less likely that there will be any discussion at all.

    I must admit that I am thinking about moving to Canada more now than I was in 1969 when I was threatened by the draft and Vietnam.

  4. Maven says:
    January 13, 2010 at 10:20 am

    My condolences to your family!

    Now regarding the health care "reform" bit…

    …if the government gets involved in health care the choice of who gets care …who will be killed off for the betterment of the nation.

    That right there is sanctioning eugenics, and would put our government right on par with Hitler.

    Additionally, how completely arrogant of the insurance industry and the ultra-conservatives to take away our right to die w/dignity (i.e. everything that Dr. Kervorkian stands for), and presupposes that the government should make that decision for us. Utter hubris!

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