2 Responses to More death panels please – Aug 23, 2009

  1. Nathan says:

    I’ve been following this debate with great interest, and I agree with the general sentiment you’re expressing here. However, I remember reading an article in the newspaper about 5 years ago on forced euthanasia in the Netherlands. The law allows doctors the final say on euthanasia, and there was a situation where a women said, “I do not want to die,” and the doctor euthanized her anyway. He was cleared of any wrongdoing!

    My concern is not so much what they are attempting to do now, but what they will attempt to do in the future. Euthanasia for terminally ill patients is becoming less taboo and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes par for the course. Sure, we have had Medicare since Johnson, but euthanasia was absolutely abhorrent then. Who’s to say that, in the future, with the government controlling health care, costs going up, euthanasia won’t become the standard?

    Euthanasia for children.

    This article about euthanasia for terminally ill children says it all. It’s a very slippery slope, people don’t want to take that first step, and I don’t blame them.

  2. neal says:

    I agree that forced euthanasia would be bad, and it’s reasonable that people wouldn’t want to take the first step toward forced euthanasia. But who is proposing taking that step? The answer is obviously no one, and I think it’s disingenuous and irresponsible to even imply that someone is.

    Meanwhile, we already have rationing in this country based on employment status and income that affects millions of people a year. None of the bills before Congress impose government rationing, and they actually attempt to eliminate industry rationing, which leads to tens of thousands of deaths per year. It’s mind boggling to me that people will dream up unsubstantiated “What if?” scenarios about fantasy euthanasia policies but turn a blind eye to the unnecessary death and suffering that’s already happening and only getting worse.

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