Not just her – a significant percentage of Congress could be so enlightened.
Ezekiel Emanuel is the brother of former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (currently of Chicago mayoral ignominy). “Zeke,” as he is called, is one of the chief architects of Obamacare. He is currently director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and heads the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
Here is the lead excerpt of his Wikipedia entry. Note the emphatic “He opposes legalized euthanasia.” We haven’t noticed that disclaimer in the second sentence of anybody else’s Wikipedia biography.
Ezekiel Jonathan “Zeke” Emanuel (born 1957) is an American bioethicist[1] and fellow at the Center for American Progress.[2] He opposes legalized euthanasia,[3] and is a proponent of a voucher-based universal health care.[4]
Perhaps he doth protest too much. Consider this article by Breitbart Senior Editor at Large Ben Shapiro evaluating Emanuel’s philosophy.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the masterminds behind Obamacare, has now explained that he wishes to die at age 75. In an article in The Atlantic, Emanuel writes, “Seventy-five. That’s how long I want to live: 75 years.” He explains that his daughters disagree; so do his brothers and his friends. But, he says, “I am sure of my position…here is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long is also a loss. It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived.” . . .
Emanuel’s push for people to die at 75 is deeply connected to Obamacare, which insists that care be rationed for the elderly – who, presumably, must be encouraged to make the same “mature” decision about death Emanuel has made. Emanuel pushes back against those attempting to lengthen their own lives, castigating them as morally deficient:
Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising, doing mental puzzles, consuming various juice and protein concoctions, sticking to strict diets, and popping vitamins and supplements, all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as possible. This has become so pervasive that it now defines a cultural type: what I call the American immortal. I reject this aspiration. I think this manic desperation to endlessly extend life is misguided and potentially destructive. For many reasons, 75 is a pretty good age to aim to stop.
Emanuel says he will stop having “colonoscopies and other cancer-screening tests.” He wants flu shots stopped for the elderly, as well.
But it’s not enough for Emanuel to feel that way. We all must feel that way, and we must construct policy around that belief. He believes that life-expectancy statistics should be ignored once they move beyond 75 years old. And while he insists that he is not “saying that those who want to live as long as possible are unethical or wrong,” his entire article is premised on that belief. Otherwise, why write it? And given the fact that Emanuel directs the Clinical Bioethics Department at the National Institutes of Health, his opinion carries weight.
Enough weight that the same day Emanuel’s piece published, a 21-member Institute of Medicine panel announced that we need to revamp our end-of-life care. “ . . . The panel also encouraged end-of-life conversations with as many elderly folks as possible, and that costs could be slashed by thinking about aging differently. . . .
if Ezekiel Emanuel wants to die at 75, that’s his prerogative. If he wants to reshape the system so the rest of us die at 75 as well, that’s evil.
Read Shapiro’s entire article and the article by Emanuel appearing in The Atlantic, for the full flavor of both. DLH
