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Oregon State Health Care Plan Will Pay for Assisted Suicide, Not Treatment
Salem, OR (LifeNews.com) -- Opponents of state-run medical insurance argue that government rationing would result in people being consigned to die. Opponents of assisted suicide legislation argue that it presents a slippery slope in which the state would eventually have people killed. A harmonic convergence of sorts has taken place in Oregon which proves both points. Oregon resident Barbara Wagner found out last month that her lung cancer, in remission for about two years, was back. After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that could slow the cancer growth and extend her life, Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover it. It would cover comfort and care, including, if she chose, assisted suicide. Responding to the news, attorney and author Wesley J. Smith has this to say, "We have been warning for years that this was a possibility in Oregon. Medicaid is rationed, meaning that some treatments are not covered. But assisted suicide is always covered. And now, Barbara Wagner was faced with that very scenario." Later, a representative of the pharmaceutical company called Wagner and told her it would provide the medicine for free. Wagner said she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both. "I am just so thrilled," she said. "I am so relieved and so happy." Smith says this isn't the first time this has happened. "A few years ago a patient who needed a double organ transplant was denied the treatment but would have been eligible for state-financed assisted suicide. But not to worry. Just keep repeating the mantra: There are no abuses with Oregon's assisted suicide law. There are no abuses. There are no abuses."
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