Death Panels Begin In Oregon

When Sarah Palin suggested Obamacare would ultimately usher in "death panels," outrage and ridicule followed. The press attacked the notion and Palin herself, assuring the public that Palin was extreme and should be ignored.

Gayle Atteberry, director of the Oregon Right to Life, attended a meeting earlier this week that was quietly and quickly announced giving the least number of people any sense that it was happening.

Atteberry says it was one of those meetings that "no one knows or cares about, except it is one that will soon rule, perhaps ruin your life."


Gail Atteberry says the meeting was not only barely announced to the public, but gave little discussion time to the topic---particularly if you opposed the plan. She writes, the outcome will have significant and expanding affect on lives.

"Up for very little discussion (to their shame) and a vote today was a guideline concerning Medicaid patients," she says.

This is the issue:

The guideline said that “treatment with intent to prolong survival is not a covered service for patients who have progressive metastatic cancer” and are not able (in the view of the physician) to be helped. Palliative care is all that will be provided.

In order to qualify for treatment coverage, the patient must undergo a “discussion” and, evidently if he can prove he can live anyway, then he can get treatment.

Atteberry says, "Many things are wrong with this picture and I, representing Oregon Right to Life, testified against this dangerous guideline, the FIRST of its kind under Obamacare."

She said, "To be fair, unbeknownst to most all people, the Oregon Health Plan already had this guideline. Although equally wrong and deadly as the new guideline, the old one was contained to a small group. Now those who will be subject to this ruling will expand to a much larger group, and it will be rigorously enforced."

Atteberry says, "I explained our concern about the mandatory discussion. We all know one of the key objectives in Obamacare is to save money. It is also no secret there is serious prejudice against money spent on end-of-life care. It is becoming less of a secret that these 'discussions' are framed so as to talk patients out of expensive care into less-costly comfort care."

She said that assurances that this guideline is more expansive and better than the old, and assurances it would only be used for those where further care was completely hopeless, was given, but little discussion was held.

The chairman of the committee explained that so many people would be added to Medicaid under Obamacare, how could they possibly have enough money to "give everyone the health care they wanted?"

Clearly under the Obamacare plan they won't.

Atteberry has been in the pro-life movement and director of Oregon Right to Life for decades.

She said this meeting formed a small snowball that will expand.

She said, "The snowball looks small now because it affects only Medicaid patients and claims to have 'safeguards' so only the most hopeless of conditions will be under its ruling. I have seen enough to tell you that something like this is never contained. 'Safeguards' do NOT work! The one who determines whether or not the patient is 'hopeless' is the physician. We see the 'quality of life' instead of the 'sanctity of life' overtaking the medical field. Cost containment demands will soon rule even the best of doctors, who will be forced to 'live within the government’s means'. "

Atteberry said soon all health exchanges in Oregon will be operating under the same rule and since this has to do with Obamacare, other exchanges will develop the same criteria.

She said, "Even though few will even know this happened, and even fewer will be concerned, this was 'the cold day in H___' that we hoped would never come. We will now watch the snowball formed today grow and grow."

"Death Panels" have become a reality.

National Right to Life and the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics has prepared a "Will to Live" document that is consistent with the law of each individual state.

Follow this link to find the appropriate document for your state. You may review it or even prepare and file the document if you wish to make this declaration.

Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Informed. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be blessed.