Recently, President Obama had the audacity to suggest that everyone get a living will to prevent confusion during end of life care. He explained that both he and Michelle Obama have one and it lets you decide specifically how you would like to be treated if you are close to death. This simple suggestion (most likely a recommendation of every doctor in the country as well) has morphed into a bizarre fabrication on the right–a claim that a “Death Panel” would euphanize both disabled people and the elderly in macabre attempt to save money.
Sarah Palin even went so far as to say Obama’s healthcare plan was “downright evil” because his “Death Panels” would have decided to kill her own Down’s Syndrome baby. The next day she obliviously called for “civility” in the health care debate.
Staying on the Death Panel theme, Human Events, the conservative opinion publication, printed an Op-Ed talking about the United Kingdom’s socialized medicine and their supposed Death Panels, and said this about renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from ALS:
“People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless…â€
Stephen Hawking was, of course, born in the UK and has lived there his whole life, rendering the argument ridiculous. And, of course, there are no “Death Panels” in the UK or in any of the bills in the House or Senate, but why would Republicans be beholden to such facts?
The screaming, violent protesters (organized by insurance companies under the guise of grassroots, populous anger) that have been showing up at Democratic town hall meetings certainly are not. In fact, one of the ignorant rabble rousers who started a fist fight and got hurt in the process is now asking for donations because he recently lost his job and has no health care. The bill he was so adamantly opposed to would bar insurance companies from dropping someone when they lose their job. It goes without saying that the irony of it all probably escaped him.
If he or anyone else cared about reality, they would watch this 60 Minutes piece on the free health clinics put on across the country that are normally reserved for third world countries. The heartbreaking story tells the story of thousands of people traveling hundreds of miles just for a simple mammogram or new set of glasses because–even with insurance–they are priced out of the market.
Or they would watch this Bill Moyers interview with a former health care industry whistle blower in which he describes all the despicable things those companies do to make a profit.
If they did, maybe they would all realize there already are Death Panels in this country. They’re called insurance company bureaucrats.
