On the heel's of a controversial Health-Care death panel (page 424 to 434 of their 1,017-page health care reform bill under the heading: "Advance Care Planning Consultation"), it's the revelation in The Wall Street Journal of the VA.'s 52 page Death Book; a booklet put out by Big Brother steering veteran brothers and sisters toward suicide; that has emerged into weekend news shows and a new controversy into how some in the U.S. government view veterans.
Called "Your Life, Your Choices", writing in the WSJ, Jim Towey, (president of Saint Vincent College, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives [2002-2006] and founder of the nonprofit Aging with Dignity), points out:
"For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be "not worth living." The circumstances listed include ones common among the elderly and disabled: living in a nursing home, being in a wheelchair and not being able to "shake the blues." There is a section which provocatively asks, "Have you ever heard anyone say, 'If I'm a vegetable, pull the plug'?" There also are guilt-inducing scenarios such as "I can no longer contribute to my family's well being," "I am a severe financial burden on my family" and that the vet's situation "causes severe emotional burden for my family."Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing. After the Bush White House took a look at how this document was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA suspended its use. Unfortunately, under President Obama, the VA has now resuscitated "Your Life, Your Choices."
The stark picture is the latest in the attempted overhaul of a Government reshaped by the Obama administration which has assembled one of the largest collection of czars and Kervorkian advisers to
guide their depopulation efforts. Read for yourself the .pdf version.Fox News Sunday ran the story twice and interviewed Sen.Arlan Specter (R,D), a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, who said 'it raises "a lot of questions" and that he would call for hearings immediately. "I think consideration ought to be given right now to suspending it pending hearings."' (video here)
--Patriot Paul
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