Rove falsely claimed Obama admin. pushing vets toward “assisted suicide”
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 26th, 2009 4:47 am by HL
Rove falsely claimed Obama admin. pushing vets toward “assisted suicide”
Continuing Fox News’ pattern of falsely suggesting that the Obama administration is pressuring veterans to end their lives prematurely, Karl Rove claimed that the Veterans Health Administration is directing veterans to an end-of-life educational booklet, “Your Life, Your Choices,” that includes contact information for “a group that believes in assisted suicide,” and thus “the kind of guidance we’re giving returning veterans” is “you ought to go to an assisted suicide group.” In fact, that group is not referenced in the current version of the document, a fact that Jim Towey — who originated the smear of the booklet as a “death book” — acknowledged in interview on Fox News Sunday.
From the August 24 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:
ROVE: There’s an interesting page in here. Page 99 lists a series of disease groups that people could reach out to as resources. But when it comes to advanced directives — what to do at your end of your life to give guidance to your physician and your family — it lists one group, Compassionate — Compassionate Choices. And it gives their phone number and their log site. What they don’t tell you, however, is that that really is the name of […] the Hemlock Society that is referenced there. This is a group that believes in assisted suicide.
[…]
But, you know, look, it’s amazing that the government would have an ideologue like Dr. Pearlman, who wrote these books, who is a witness in assisted suicide cases, who writes in the resources that you have to — that he has in this book — that you ought to go to an assisted suicide group. That’s the kind of guidance we’re giving returning veterans?
Rove claimed booklet says vets “ought to go to an assisted suicide group”
Rove claimed “Compassionate Choices” a.k.a. “the Hemlock Society” referenced on “Page 99.” Rove asserted that, concerning guidance on advanced directives, “Your Life, Your Choices” “lists one group … Compassionate Choices [James Rosen.
Transcript
From the August 24 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:
HANNITY: Now a controversy is brewing over a so-called planning tool that is issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Now some, including Senator Arlen Specter, say that it promotes pulling the plug on our brave veterans.
Now Ainsley Earhardt is here with much more — Ainsley.
EARHARDT: Sean, it’s a document called, “Your Life, Your Choices.” It’s used by the Veterans Administration to help people make choices about their living wills and end-of-life care. This booklet was first published back in 1997, then later promoted as the VA’s preferred living will guide.
Jim Towey, the former director of faith-based initiatives during the Bush administration, says after the Bush White House looked at how this book was treating complex health and moral issues, the VA decided to suspend its use. He says the document has now been revived under the current Obama administration.
[…]
HANNITY: And joining me now with more on this story is Fox News contributor, former Bush adviser, Karl Rove.
Mr. Architect, good to see you, sir. Thank you for being here. Now —
ROVE: Hi, Sean.
HANNITY: — this — this book came out in 1997 — “Your Life, Your Choices.” It’s 52 pages. They use it at VA hospitals and nursing homes. Bush administration got wind of it; they got rid of it.
ROVE: Yeah —
HANNITY: Obama brought it back. Tell me —
ROVE: Right. Deputy chief — deputy chief of staff Joel Kaplan and domestic policy adviser Karl Zinsmeister, when alerted to this thing, worked tirelessly to get this quickly removed and killed and deep-sixed. And it’s been brought back by the Obama administration, and we’ve been delivered here in the last couple of days. A lot of gobbledygook about them. You just heard from Ainsley about it, where they say, oh, it’s not an official document. But it’s on their website, and they give it to returning veterans.
Tammy Duckworth on Sunday on Fox News Sunday said, well, it’s — we’ve withdrawn the document. But it’s still on their website. I mean, this is a lousy piece of material. It was jerked down by the Bush administration. It should not have been revived by the Obama administration.
HANNITY: You know, it’s funny, what Governor Palin and the power that she had, you know, with one Facebook blog about death panels. She really defined the debate, because this is the type of thing that we do see with countries that have socialized medicine. For example, they put a price on the years of productivity and how much they’ll spend on health care in Europe.
So this should be a real concern for people as we debate this, shouldn’t it?
ROVE: Absolutely. And look, the book is designed to encourage people towards a certain direction, which is to give up and accept pain.
In fact, you know what? There’s an interesting page in here. Page 99 lists a series of disease groups that people could reach out to as resources. But when it comes to advanced directives — what to do at your end of your life to give guidance to your physician and your family — it lists one group, Compassionate — Compassionate Choices. And it gives their phone number and their log site.
What they don’t tell you, however, is that that really is the name of — and I’ve got a high-tech graphic here from the Fox graphics department. That is the Hemlock Society that is referenced there. This is a group that believes in assisted suicide. The Veterans Administration —
HANNITY: Wait, could you put that back up?
ROVE: Yeah, look at that. Isn’t that special?
HANNITY: Did you draw that —
ROVE: A lot of time and energy went into that.
HANNITY: Did you draw that —
ROVE: See it’s got a little glass of poison over there for you.
HANNITY: I was going to ask you, did you draw that little glass of poison?
ROVE: Well, look, the Fox high-tech graphics department did that. The Austin branch — down here in Austin tonight.
But, you know, look, it’s amazing that the government would have an ideologue like Dr. Pearlman, who wrote these books, who is a witness in assisted suicide cases, who writes in the resources that you have to — that he has in this book — that you ought to go to an assisted suicide group. That’s the kind of guidance we’re giving returning veterans?
And I’ve got to tell you, people ought to read this document. It is a scary — if you’re not worried about government health care, you read this book, and you will be.
