Kristia Cavere Markarian
Obama forces our veterans to question if their life is "worth living"
By Kristia Cavere Markarian
First President Obama's Homeland Security department accused our veterans of being right-wing extremists and potential terrorists. Now his Veterans Affairs (VA) agency is advocating euthanasia and forcing our veterans to question if their live has any value.
In 1997, during the Clinton administration, an end-of-life booklet called "Your Life, Your Choices," was distributed among all the VA hospitals and nursing homes. The main author, Dr. Robert Pearlman, is in favor of physician-assisted suicide and a rationing of health care services, and his beliefs were blatantly advocated in the booklet.
President George W. Bush did not allow this pamphlet to be used as he believed its treatment of the subject matter to be morally wrong. But now Obama has resuscitated what a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed called a "Death Book for Veterans."
A July 2009 directive forces all VA physicians to distribute "Your Life, Your Choices" and to discuss "end of life planning" with all VA patients, not just those who are terminally ill or of extremely old age. Our physically and/or emotionally disabled or wounded veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve a VA system that they can trust to heal them as best as possible. Our brave soldiers should never be subject to a government agency that seems to be wishing them to give up and go away.
In "Your Life, Your Choices," our veterans are asked to think about whether their life is "not worth living." Seven questions are asked in which veterans are encouraged to sign a living will so their doctor can terminate their life if they are: 1. Living in a nursing home? 2. Being in a wheelchair? 3. Not able to "shake the blues?" 4. Ever heard anyone say, "If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug?" 5. No longer able to contribute to your family's well-being? 6. Are you a severe financial burden to your family? 7. Do you cause severe emotional burden for your family?
In addition to Dr. Pearlman, the pro-euthanasia group that wrote this booklet was known as the Hemlock Society, which was founded by Derek Humphrey, a former London Sunday Times reporter, in 1980. In 2002, with the goal of appearing more benign to attract more supporters to their cause, their name was changed to "Compassion and Choices." Despite their seemingly sympathetic new name, "Compassion and Choices" is a group which encourages voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide to be made legal not just for the terminally ill but anyone who believes himself to be too old, too frail, or too tired of life.
On their website, www.CompassionAndChoices,org, they boast, "As Congress debates health insurance reform, Compassion and Choices is leading the charge to make end-of-life choice a centerpiece of any program that emerges." Based on the health care rationing that Obamacare would bring, as well as the panels comprised of government bureaucrats who would be dictating healthcare decisions for the rest of America, our President and his party agree with the philosophy of groups like C & C.
The main responsibility of government is to protect the most vulnerable members of society, from the unborn to the elderly to the sick and wounded. Our courageous soldiers who have returned from the hell and horror of war deserve a government that honors them, helps them, and heals them.
The main responsibility of our president is as Commander-In-Chief to our soldiers. Obama has shown a total lack of concern for those who have fought for our freedoms and now need care in a VA facility, whereas he shows seemingly endless compassion toward terrorists and the dictators who enable them to wound and kill our troops.
The callousness of "Your Life, Your Choices" is a preview of what healthcare will be for all of us if socialized medicine becomes law. It is unconscionable to have such a booklet used in VA hospitals, and Obama's goal is of all hospitals being run like the VA.
President George Washington stated, "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars to be treated and appreciated by their nation." Our veterans, who believed our country to be worth fighting for, are now being treated by a government-run VA healthcare system that does not think our veterans are worth fighting for. Obama's treatment of our soldiers and veterans is going to cause our young men, who are considering the military, to hesitate having this indifferent President as their commander.
© Kristia Cavere Markarian
October 3, 2009
First President Obama's Homeland Security department accused our veterans of being right-wing extremists and potential terrorists. Now his Veterans Affairs (VA) agency is advocating euthanasia and forcing our veterans to question if their live has any value.
In 1997, during the Clinton administration, an end-of-life booklet called "Your Life, Your Choices," was distributed among all the VA hospitals and nursing homes. The main author, Dr. Robert Pearlman, is in favor of physician-assisted suicide and a rationing of health care services, and his beliefs were blatantly advocated in the booklet.
President George W. Bush did not allow this pamphlet to be used as he believed its treatment of the subject matter to be morally wrong. But now Obama has resuscitated what a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed called a "Death Book for Veterans."
A July 2009 directive forces all VA physicians to distribute "Your Life, Your Choices" and to discuss "end of life planning" with all VA patients, not just those who are terminally ill or of extremely old age. Our physically and/or emotionally disabled or wounded veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan deserve a VA system that they can trust to heal them as best as possible. Our brave soldiers should never be subject to a government agency that seems to be wishing them to give up and go away.
In "Your Life, Your Choices," our veterans are asked to think about whether their life is "not worth living." Seven questions are asked in which veterans are encouraged to sign a living will so their doctor can terminate their life if they are: 1. Living in a nursing home? 2. Being in a wheelchair? 3. Not able to "shake the blues?" 4. Ever heard anyone say, "If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug?" 5. No longer able to contribute to your family's well-being? 6. Are you a severe financial burden to your family? 7. Do you cause severe emotional burden for your family?
In addition to Dr. Pearlman, the pro-euthanasia group that wrote this booklet was known as the Hemlock Society, which was founded by Derek Humphrey, a former London Sunday Times reporter, in 1980. In 2002, with the goal of appearing more benign to attract more supporters to their cause, their name was changed to "Compassion and Choices." Despite their seemingly sympathetic new name, "Compassion and Choices" is a group which encourages voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide to be made legal not just for the terminally ill but anyone who believes himself to be too old, too frail, or too tired of life.
On their website, www.CompassionAndChoices,org, they boast, "As Congress debates health insurance reform, Compassion and Choices is leading the charge to make end-of-life choice a centerpiece of any program that emerges." Based on the health care rationing that Obamacare would bring, as well as the panels comprised of government bureaucrats who would be dictating healthcare decisions for the rest of America, our President and his party agree with the philosophy of groups like C & C.
The main responsibility of government is to protect the most vulnerable members of society, from the unborn to the elderly to the sick and wounded. Our courageous soldiers who have returned from the hell and horror of war deserve a government that honors them, helps them, and heals them.
The main responsibility of our president is as Commander-In-Chief to our soldiers. Obama has shown a total lack of concern for those who have fought for our freedoms and now need care in a VA facility, whereas he shows seemingly endless compassion toward terrorists and the dictators who enable them to wound and kill our troops.
The callousness of "Your Life, Your Choices" is a preview of what healthcare will be for all of us if socialized medicine becomes law. It is unconscionable to have such a booklet used in VA hospitals, and Obama's goal is of all hospitals being run like the VA.
President George Washington stated, "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars to be treated and appreciated by their nation." Our veterans, who believed our country to be worth fighting for, are now being treated by a government-run VA healthcare system that does not think our veterans are worth fighting for. Obama's treatment of our soldiers and veterans is going to cause our young men, who are considering the military, to hesitate having this indifferent President as their commander.
© Kristia Cavere Markarian
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