Akin, Blunt, Emerson & Graves Voted For End-Of-Life Counseling in 2003

Representatives Todd Akin, Roy Blunt, Jo Ann Emerson and Sam Graves "all voted in 2003 for a measure very similar to the one in the current House health care bill they now suggest in various ways could lead to government-encouraged euthanasia." That's according to the "The Plum Line" blog affiliated with The Washington Post.

As Time’s Amy Sullivan reported late last night, [Iowa's Sen. Chuck] Grassley voted for the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, which — ready? — provided coverage for "counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning."

The only difference between the 2003 bill and the House Dem one that’s inspired the "euthanasia" talk, Sullivan reports, is that the earlier one “applied only to terminally ill patients.”

Former Congressman Kenny Hulshof also voted for the bill. Click here for the full roll call vote.

Sadly, the Republican Party's previous support for end of life planning (which is a good thing) hasn't stopped crazy talk about "death panels" and other outrageously false scare tactics.  For instance, yesterday's column from Blaine Luetkemeyer warns that "end-of-life provisions [in Congressional health care bills now] could result in government-paid consultations encouraging assisted suicide or other forms of euthanasia."  

Needless to say, Luetkemeyer's claims are hypocritical AND false. The good people at FactCheck.org write: 

False Euthanasia Claims
The claim that the House health care bill pushes suicide is nonsense.
July 29, 2009

[...] As for the argument claiming that this is the first step on a slippery slope leading to government-encouraged euthanasia, that’s a stretch. The right to draw up an advance directive is federally guaranteed, but doctor-assisted suicide is legal in only three states. It would take a lot more than Medicare-funded counseling for voluntary euthanasia to become a standard government recommendation.

Hopefully, the rest of the Missouri delegation will remember their previous support for this kind of policy, remember that it's a good thing, and call on their colleagues and allies to stop the fearmongering.