The "Obama Straddle" on Assisted Suicide
As the election progresses, I will attempt to present the positions of the candidates on issues germane to human exceptionalism, assisted suicide, animal rights, health care rationing, in short, all of the grist we grind here at SHS.
This morning, I did a quick search on Obama and assisted suicide and found this interview. It is a complete straddle, which is a disappointment given the import of the issue. In a March newspaper interview he was asked about assisted suicide. His answer from the interview:
I am in favor of palliative medicine in circumstances where someone is terminally ill. ... I'm mindful of the legitimate interests of states to prevent a slide from palliative treatments into euthanasia. On the other hand, I think that the people of Oregon did a service for the country in recognizing that as the population gets older we've got to think about issues of end-of-life care....Now, I note that there is an ellipses at the end of the answer, which might have edited out a more definitive response. But I doubt it, since a more definitive response would be newsworthy.
This answer is along the lines of Obama's "above my pay grade" punt about when human rights attach at the Saddleback Church. Such wiggling may be politically smart, but it is also not leadership.
Labels: Assisted Suicide. Barack Obama.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 9:27 AM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
A suggestive punt, nonetheless. Legalizing assisted suicide is recognizing that we have to "think about end of life care" now that we have more elderly people among us. Y'know, end of life care. Like suicide medications. That is a very positive spin to put on the Oregon law, to put it mildly.
In a "Godfather" kind of way, I guess this is one way of "taking care of" those at the end of their lives. Too bad for O this issue wasn't above his pay grade, too, considering the sick nature of this response. Johnny Carson used to joke that Reagan ran for office because he didn't like being old in a country that doesn't take care of its aging population. Oregon has found a way to take care of aged. May the Lord have mercy on us.
The Oregon law was passed by referendum...twice.
It was designed as a last-resort option for TERMINALLY ILL adults of all ages, NOT as a device targeted at "old people."
Only ~35 people per year actually utilize it for the last decade.
Honestly, do ANY of you even bother to glance at the piles of data on this or do you simply cherry-pick 'facts' that appear to fit your pre-existing opinions?
If you feel this strongly about PAS, you should offer free counseling services and/or palliatve care alternatives to real Oregonians considering PAS. Then come back and discuss the actual threat with first-hand knowledge.
You know, actually talk to real people instead of hurling aphorisms into cyberspace, which accomplishes nothing and confirms the impression that you are willfully misinformed on the issue. Hardly a postion from which to influence change.
I did talk to them in Palliative care once I realized they were trying to knock off my dad. When I brought in dad's own Doctor, he put the run on those Palliative care nurses and the Anesthesiologist that was drugging him to death. Bear in mind my dad signed a "No extreme Measure Policy " but that was in case he was on a respirator for a length of time. He was quite glad we were able to provide protection for him. My mom died on a respirator the evening before the morning when I would have honored her commitment for no extreme measures and pulled the machine plug. Her Heart specialist tried every trick in the medical profession to get her off the respirator and onto her own lung power. Didn't happen but I will always admire his tenacity and value to the medical community for protecting those in his care.
Donnie: You really believe that doctors were trying to kill your father?
I don't think it was a coincidence that when his family doctor was reading the charts he was quite disturbed at the quantity of drugs that Palliative Care ,were giving dad. The Family Dr. put the run on the Palliative Care anesthesiologist that dad did improve. A big clue was when the family Dr. stated that dad was getting enough drugs put down an elephant. Another clue was the Palliative Care anesthesiologist that said she was there to teach dad how to die and make it easier for him. Those are not comforting words for a man bright enough to know why he was in Palliative care to begin with though she might have meant them to be so. I honestly believe she had given up on dad's ability to recover and really felt she was doing a good deed by him. She never understood my dad's resolve to fight because she never let him get to a stage where he could maintain a level above semi comatose due to the drugs. Also of note is he was seeing all sorts of drug induced creatures including big man eating spiders which was actually a ceiling fan. I understand the administration of drugs after heart or stroke is to calm the patient but when the patient is in that state, there is nothing calming and healing in the mix. I am very glad that I spoke to the family Dr. because he did turn things around for dad.
I guess the point I would stress the most is that a person in my position should get second opinions and try to evaluate the care required for our loved ones. My dad didn't have a quality life physically after he got out of palliative care but he did enjoy the time left mentally and spiritually.
About two years later my dad had to have his second leg amputated and about six months after mom died. Diabetic complications. I knew my dad's time was coming to an end but I was with him when the Surgeon took bandages off his foot. He took one look and stated, "I am sorry sir but that leg has to come off." Dad looked at him and calmly state "I know that Dr. I can feel the poison moving through me from the gangrene." The Dr. then said that "he was afraid dad wouldn't make it through the ordeal and felt he should let dad know that." Dad smiled and told the good Surgeon , He had no difficulty with that factor. If I wake up and see my son at the end of the bed ,that is a good thing, If I wake up and see his mother standing at the end of the bed that is a good thing to. He survived the operation. However he got hospital staff infection which slowly took over the wound and spread infection throughout his body. He was a fighter. The last week of his life was spent in the hospital However he did stay in his own home after having the second leg amputation. VON gave him excellent care at home but the infection slowly won. He died 3 months after the amputation and on the same day that mom was buried one year before.
I know in my heart and especially in my mind ,he would have been buried from palliative care if we hadn't gotten his own Dr. to take over. The anesthesiologist was to busy thinking she was offering dad the easiest way out to notice dad didn't care to take the easy way out.
Thanks for telling your story, Donnie. When my mother-in-law was in the final stages of cancer, we cherished the time we had with her...and vice-versa.
She kept her pain medication to a minimum, both because it made her hallucinate and because it robbed her of the little time she had left to communicate with us. Some members of the family were very upset that she wasn't getting more pain relief, but we soon realized that it was for their own sakes, not hers. They couldn't stand to see her in pain, even if that was her preference.
Their "compassion" had more to do with relieving their emotional discomfort than her physical discomfort. Needless to say, they are not the ones I will be entrusting with medical decisions on my behalf.
My dad & my mom wanted to have their mental faculties so they could carry on conversations with family they knew they wouldn't be able to speak to for much longer. If they would have reached a point where the pain was to severe they would have asked for the drugs needed. Their family doctor and their specialists honored that desire. It was the Palliative care Dr. and nurses that decided they knew what was best despite my parents choice to monitor & decide how to their own pain. Thankfully we had good strong willed heart specialist for mom,an equally understanding Diabetic Specialist for dad & Family GP to support my parents choices.
Something else of note Mike. We have already reached stage one of having you lose the choice to die as a fighter trying to stay above ground as long as you can. Some folks in the medical fields along with legal professionals are pushing the envelope towards death because they want to decide who is to be to much of a drain on medical society to live and who can be saved because costs wouldn't be as high. Incremental move towards hospitals being euthanasia clinics is already on that slippery slope.
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