This is another example of somewhat well intentioned people who don't do research on things for themselves letting people like goofy Sarah Palin get them all worked up over nothing. Good Christian people get caught up in spreading the lies and mistruths so a politician can play a political game and in the process people are driven to fear and illogical conclusions.
Sarah Palin never believed there were any "death panels". She simply brought up it up to keep her spotlight loving name in public view, never mind, she lied to do so.
Georgia
Republican Senator Johnny Isakson told the Washington Post and I quote,
"How someone could take an end of life directive or a living will as that is nuts,” he said. “You’re putting the authority in the individual rather than the government. I don’t know how that got so mixed up.” All the provision in the bill does is allow for Doctors to be paid for talking to families about "
living wills, choosing a health care proxy or learning about hospice care". Those are all things that everyone already discusses, but the measure simply pays a doctor for his time to talk with the family about it during a session.
In addition the measure actually
BLOCKS funding for counseling that discusses suicide or physician assisted suicide as an option for treatment. Surely everyone understands what the phrase "blocks funding" means right?
Those are the facts for those who actually want them and aren't just trying to kill healtcare reform so their side can "win".
What's amazing to me is that so many Republicans do their best to defeat healthcare reform when a Democrat is in office and wants to address the issue. They are great at playing defense. They have no offense however. The Republican party hasn't done a blessed thing to help fix the acknowledged health care problem in this country even though they've controlled the White House and both houses of Congress several times over the last 29 years.
The Republican party apparently doesn't have any solutions to help fix health care. Just saying, "No", to everything a Democratic administration proposes doesn't help solve the problem. They refused to lead so the Democrats are in the process of doing so.
Those are the facts for those who have half a brain and want to know the truth.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/08/...a-death-panel/