Our nation has arrived at a fateful moment in the debate over health insurance reform. More than sixty years after Harry Truman recognized the health of all Americans as a public responsibility, we stand on the threshold, closer than ever to transforming our health insurance system into one that cares for all citizens and honors patient choice.
To step over that threshold we must acknowledge the current system divides us arbitrarily into haves and have-nots and only through united support for each other can we achieve our greatness. Health insurance reform can bring America closer to our ideals of equality and freedom if it offers affordable coverage to all, expands choices and puts each of us in charge of our health care decisions.
At Compassion & Choices, we focus on better care and informed decision making for patients facing the end of life and their families. We fight bills that would force patients to endure futile, invasive treatment against their will. We help clients with advance directives, local service referrals, and pain and symptom management. We were happy when legislators from both parties sponsored a provision to reimburse doctors whose Medicare patients ask to discuss end-of-life choices. This is the now famous Section 1233 on page 425 of House Bill 3200.
When seniors tell their doctor what treatments they would want or not want in a given situation, they protect their families from struggles over decisions about life-sustaining treatment if they became unable to speak for themselves. They protect their families from the kind of strife the Schiavo family endured.
So when patients express their decisions to their doctors, who stands to lose? The same people we saw demonstrating on the lawn of Terri Schiavo's hospice. Notorious anti-choice radical Randall Terry and others who would dictate private decisions for others: radicals who want to impose their religious beliefs on all Americans. Let's be honest, a medical-industrial complex that profits from extraordinary treatments even when they are harmful, painful and futile also benefits when a dying patient's wish for a peaceful end goes unspoken.
Opponents of health insurance reform are now spreading distortions -- including outrageous lies about the government encouraging seniors to end their lives and death panels euthanizing people with disabilities.
No facts support these horror stories. Even Fred Thompson, who first made these claims on his radio show, now admits, "Is this a conspiracy to kill off granny? No. Will seniors be forced to make decisions they don't want to make? No." Regardless of the facts, however, many people embrace these fears and cling to these myths. We shouldn't be surprised. Change of any kind is inherently frightening.
And what we're talking about is a profound change, from a system where bosses and insurance executives decide who gets health care coverage to one where each of us gets to choose; from a system where pharmaceutical representatives have first access to doctors to one where patients do. Having an opportunity to speak for ourselves on the most basic questions of life and death liberates us from dependence on others to dictate what is right for us.
Freedom is the change that feeds the fear. When we have a greater voice in health care, the traditional voices of authority lose their power over us. Note that when opponents acknowledge the truth, as Fred Thompson does, they still oppose patients discussing end-of-life choices with their doctors. The possibility that Americans could have a direct discussion with their doctor, unencumbered by issues of job or status, void of interference from medical vendors and without a requirement to follow the opinion of religious authorities, is a threat to all those who favor an authoritarian model of medical care.
We are passing through a sweltering August of discouragement, but must look ahead to the invigorating cool of a shaded haven, where our health care system might offer equality of access and freedom of choice and where patients -- not profits -- come first. It is within our sight; the door stands open. But those who fear progress stand in the way. By intimidation, with seeds of doubt and fear they are trying to bar our entry. This autumn, walking shoulder to shoulder, we can, we must cross that threshold.
Huff TV: HuffPost Editor Roy Sekoff On The Far Right's Political Porn (VIDEO)
HuffPost Editor Roy Sekoff was a guest on MSNBC's The Ed Show tonight to discuss the latest figure trafficking in far right political porn. Randall...
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/18/exclusive-fred-thompson-on-health-care-reform/
And instead of hurling the ring, Frodo puts it on and says, "No."
We're going to all die wearing that ring if we don't find a way to throw it into the flames.
The answer isn't NO or precious, the answer is YES. Yes we can.
Frodo lives.
Viva La Liberte !!
If Terri had indeed signed "A living will" these unfortunate events would not have happened.
But it's a lot less "cut and dried" as some liberals want us all to believe.
Some folks now do survive the "Coma or
Now what really bothers me is that the same folks who are so very quick to deny that an unborn child is alive are the very same folks who deny that a heartbeat, pulse and respiration are signs of life. Thank God that EMT's have a different viewpoint! And what about others who clinically die on the table with no heartbeat, pulse or respiration and come back to tell of a near death experience that was good or frightening. And these folks who have NDE's or near death experiences are not rare at all.
Sure, but the ability to communicate isn't considered by some to be a sign of intelligent life, otherwise dogs, cats, dolphins, hell, every animal on earth would be considered a form of life equal to humans. Just because we can't understand their language (yet) does not necessarily mean they are any less intelligent
HuffPo itself had an article that cited research that claims that dogs have the same cognitive and learning abilities as 2 year old humans.
But, that isn't the point here. The point is that those who oppose pulling the plug, or abortion don't give a flying flip about QUALITY of life in this world. As much as you might occasionally cite pseudoscience, obviously you've forgotten or likely ignored the fact that there are 2 nervous systems, one that controls heartbeat, pulse, respiration, the other that controls higher brain functions like speech and cognitive ability
By your definition of heartbeat, pulse, respiration, ALL life is precious, from humans down to the tiniest little micro-organism, and if we keep the human alive, we should keep the flu virus alive.
In other words, havng a pulse, heartbeat and respiration is not the only, and in fact is not the most accurate definition of life, coming from people who believe that humans are not even animals, and that they have "dominion over the earth"
While Terri would likely have benefited from having a living will the reality is that her parents have stated both on and off the record that they would have taken the matter to court even if she HAD a living will. Oddly enough, MANY courts today ignore the express wishes of the patient as detailed in their living wills.
The problem is NOT surviving...
~It is how people define "life"... definitions vary widely and there are millions of us who do NOT consider being hooked up to machines for years on end to be either "LIFE" or "LIVING". Matter of fact... for MANY of us it sounds more like H*LL than it does LIFE.
~It is how the medical community plays God... Don't believe me? Get a diagnosis of cancer and inform your doctor that you are opting for NO treatment... You'll be standing before a judge and be being ordered to undergo chemo so fast it will make your head spin.
most-important weapons of all--FEAR and CHAOS.
Corporations PERFECTED advertising years ago.
They KNOW how to use it FOR CORPORATE PROFIT.
People forget that we're dealing with CORPORATE PROFITEERS
whose BOTTOM LINE is much more important than Your Health.
Regardless of what options I might choose, the simple fact that there are options that can be discussed, and that these discussions are supported by at least some doctors can give a terminally ill patient the peace of mind to continue to fight for their very lives, if they so choose.
I am ashamed and disheartened at how this provision of the bill has been twisted and distorted to serve nothing more than the political advancement agendas of our current batch of legislators, on both sides of the aisle.
Again, thank you for your service and the work you do! And for those who need the link again to your organization,
Compassionandchoices.com
I have, on several occasions, been involved with Hospice care for loved ones. The good they do is immeasurable.
this healthcare system is a sickness. and spending more money willl just take down the rest of our society...