Obama Revived Nazi Euthanasia Propaganda at Veterans Administration

October 3, 2009 (LPAC)—A pamphlet encouraging sick or depressed veterans to consider themselves worthless and end their lives is still on the Veterans Administration (VA) website, despite a public furor over it.

The 52-page propaganda piece, entitled "Your Life, Your Choices," was written in 1997 by VA "ethicist" Robert Pearlman, who was paid and trained in euthanasia advocacy by the George Soros "Project on Death in America." In 2007, a review by government officials led to the pamphlet being suppressed.

It was revived under the Obama Administration, and a July, 2009 VA directive instructed primary care physicians to refer patients to "Your Life, Your Choices."

The new push for the pamphlet was spotted and reported on in an Aug. 19 Wall Street Journal op-ed by Jim Towey entitled "The Death Book for Veterans." The pamphlet came under public fire as an attempt to induce frail veterans to feel guilty that they were staying alive.

Now the Obama Administration has posted a notice with the pamphlet, saying it is being made available "for information only" and that "some people say it is not balanced."

The text of page 21 of "Your life, Your Choices" is reproduced below. Like the entire pamphlet, its message echoes the propaganda issued by Nazi German doctors who were subsequently convicted at the Nuremberg tribunals, for murdering people on the philosophy that some lives were unworthy of preserving.

WHAT MAKES YOUR LIFE WORTH LIVING?

Instructions: This exercise will help you think about and express what really matters to you. For each row, check one answer to express how you would feel if this factor by itself described you.

[for each item, the page allows for four possible answers—"difficult, but acceptable"; "worth living, but just barely"; "NOT worth living" (emphasis in the original); or "can't answer now"]

a. I can no longer walk but get around in a wheelchair.

b. I can no longer get outside-I spend all day at home.

c. I can no longer contribute to my family's well being.

d. I am in severe pain most of the time.

e. I have severe discomfort most of the time (such as nausea, diarrhea or shortness of breath).

f. I rely on a feeding tube to keep me alive.

g. I rely on a kidney dialysis machine to keep me alive.

h. I rely on a breathing machine to keep me alive.

i. I need someone to help take care of me all of time.

j. I can no longer control my bladder.

k. I can no longer control my bowels.

l. I live in a nursing home.

m. I can no longer think clearly-I am confused all the time.

n. I can no longer recognize family/friends.

o. I can no longer talk and be understood by others.

p. My situation causes severe emotional burden for my family (such as feeling worried or stressed all the time).

q. I am a severe financial burden on my family.

r. I cannot seem to "shake the blues."

s. Other (write in):

Instructions: To help others make sense out of your answers, think about the following questions and be sure to explain your answers to your loved ones and health care providers.

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?