There is a big debate arousing in the United States about the health care reform. Some are saying that this could promote euthanasia in the elderly. Along with the other points that are outlined in the plan there is a plan for the elderly on Medicare to have sessions that counsel them about end of life plans. In these sessions you know what will be discussed…euthanasia! I do not know about any of you but I would not want my grandmother or grandfather going to any session with euthanasia as a main topic. This will definitely lead to older people ending their lives sooner. This part of the bill ‘may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia’. End of life consultations as they call it have been in the workings since 1990, but I cannot imagine paying taxes for someone to counsel elderly people on how to end their life sooner. It does not matter if it is in the society’s best interest or not this is flat out wrong! On the other hand certain politicians say that this is not in any way what the goal of these consultations is. It could be that these would simply inform patients about their choices and they would not be forced to sign any type of living will. There are many secrets and new arguments occurring daily about the hot topic of health care. What do you think about its affect on euthanasia? Do you think that a person would even considered euthanasia if it was not proposed by a doctor?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25486.html#
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You raised an interesting point about how you "cannot imagine paying taxes for someone to counsel elderly people on how to end their life sooner". Do you think this will be more acceptable to you if it were the patient, rather than the counsellor, who is seeking reassurance to commit the act of euthanasia, assuming that the patient is fully capable of making such a decision?
ReplyDeleteThat is a different situation but with the counseling sessions being possibly mandatory these thoughts could be raised before the thought ever comes to the patient.
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