Our wounded heroes deserve proper care and counseling for their service
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) is calling for a congressional hearing into an end of life guide that is given out to veterans by the federal government. The guide is titled “Your Life, Your Choices,” was suspended under the Bush Administration, but is being brought back under the current Department of Veterans Affairs. A former Bush Administration official, Jim Towey, says that the booklet gives the injured vets a “hurry up and die” message from the government. Specter, who serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said on Fox News Sunday that "I think consideration ought to be given right now to suspending it pending hearings.”
This pamphlet came to life this week after Towey wrote an Op/Ed in the Wall Street Journal about the revival of the “Your Life, Your Choices” guide. The Department of Veterans Affairs has said that the guide has not been fully reinstated and that it is being reviewed. A section of the guide is titled “Is your life worth living?” and gives scenarios such as “I am a severe financial burden on my family,” and “My situation causes severe emotional burden for my family.”
I think this is truly an awful guide for veterans to get. There should definitely be looked at by Congress and should not be reinstated. When veterans come home from fighting for this country, they should be treated as heroes and given proper guidance, not a despicable booklet with these horrible things in it. Now I want to be clear so there is no confusion, this is not in any way related to the end of life care in healthcare reform bills being debated. There is no tie in with death panels or euthanasia that has been alleged in recent weeks. This specific guide is considerably older and had previously been suspended for the past few years.
Right now, our veterans receive the best government run healthcare that is provided. The VA system has been consistently ranked higher than Medicare/Medicaid/SCHIP or any other program. If a government healthcare system were to be implemented, many point to the level of care the veterans receive as a model to follow. This guide puts a damper on some of the counseling options that our heroes get. The Department of Veterans Affairs should ban this book and write one that is more appropriate and that doesn’t diminish the veteran. If not, I sincerely hope that lawmakers launch an investigation into this guide and into the people who wrote it.
Here is the PDF for the "Your Life, Your Choices" booklet
Comments
I think it is even worse that we send these brave souls into a war that isn't warranted in the first place, of course brought about most recently by your hero, George W. Bush.
Now, let's go onto this horrific pamphlet, according to you.
Taken after the "What makes your life worth living?":
"If you checked "worth living, but just barely" for more than one factor, would a combination of these
factors make your life "not worth living?" If so, which factors?
If you checked "not worth living," does this mean that you would rather die than be kept alive?
If you checked "can't answer now," what information or people do you need to help you decide?"
How can you interpret this as somehow immoral and horrific? This pamphlet is a way to PREVENT some of the catastrophes that occur when family wishes prevail individual wishes. Can anyone say Terry Schiavo? It is certainly unpleasant to think of such things anytime, but I personally would fill this out and if the time does come w
(continued)
but I personally would fill this out and if (God forbid) the time does come where I am in a coma, diagnosed with dementia, diagnosed with terminal caner, etc., I would have MY wishes on paper, and it would minimize if not eliminate the BURDEN and guess work of trying to decipher what "She would have wanted".
"This guide puts a damper on some of the counseling options that our heroes get. The Department of Veterans Affairs should ban this book and write one that is more appropriate and that doesn’t diminish the veteran". But this pamphlet doesn't do any of that. Obviously, veterans have seen horrors that no one else has and have some of the worst injuries imaginable, but that is why something as crucial as this maintains the dignity of the soldier and respects their wishes and humanity. This brochure is comprehensive and asks some extremely emotional and very hard questions, but they are better off answered by the person receiving the treatment or declining the treatment
It may even be wise to give this to our soldiers BEFORE they enlist, so if a tragedy does occur while they are in unnecessary combat, then the military will have the soldiers wishes on paper. Family members have much more important things to do then to toil over their family members last wishes.
"I think this is truly an awful guide for veterans to get." But why? Because it asks what THEY want for themselves? I think you are confusing if YOU would want to fill out this guide. But if I were to enlist, this would be one of the first things I would get filled out and stored in case the unthinkable does happen. Unfortunately, the unthinkable does happen much more than it should, and I feel terrible for the families that will have to live with the thought "Is this what they would have wanted?"
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