By Jerry McConnell ——Bio and Archives--August 25, 2009
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“What Emanuel(Dr. Ezekiel, Rahm’s brother) and his two coauthors were actually writing about was how to decide which patients are to receive organ transplants, vaccines or other "very scarce medical interventions" when there are not enough to go around. The three authors advocated favoring younger patients over older patients as part of a "complete lives" decision-making system aimed at saving the most years of life using the available resources. Age would be only one factor, however. Also weighing in the "complete lives" system would be such factors as a patient’s likelihood of full recovery (prognosis) and the use of a lottery when deciding between two "roughly equal" patients.The authors disputed the idea that this system discriminates against older people in the way that favoring one race or one sex over another would discriminate. "Treating 65-year-olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not." The authors stated that the complete lives system "empowers us to decide fairly whom to save when genuine scarcity makes saving everyone impossible." Emanuel told us that allocating health care services when there is an "absolute scarcity" is "one of the hardest decisions that a physician has to make." He said that he and his fellow authors were pondering "the most ethically coherent way to do that." Emphasis added.) The frequent mention of “scarcity” is a bit alarming, perhaps prefacing an admission on their part that they DO plan on allowing up to 50 million more people to enter the plan which will quite naturally cause extreme shortage of doctors, medical personnel and facilities and equipment, not to mention funds to cover. In another view of this controversy, “The New American” offers a rebuttal to Fact Check.org and Obama in a 13 Aug. 2009 article “The Truth About Obama’s ‘Death Panels’ and Rationing” by Thomas Eddlem; “President Barack Obama has been counterattacking against critics of his healthcare plan in recent days… Among the most hotly contested claims are some critics' claims that section 1233 of the House version of Obamacare would institute “death panels” that require end-of-life counseling and possibly euthanasia. “The rumor that's been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for "death panels" that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we've decided that we don't — it's too expensive to let her live anymore…”. Eddlem’s article goes on to say that the “rumor” of the existence of “death panels” in Obama’s health care plan as produced in his personally controlled Congress was circulated by recently resigned Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin who was quoted as saying, "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society' whether they are worthy of health care.... Such a system is downright evil." Governor Palin, the mother of a child with a disability, could certainly be expected to be a lot more directly affected by the possibility of a mandatory decision-making government agency handing down a decision as to whether or not her child may not be worthy of being allowed a medical procedure that could save or prolong that child’s life. Any mother, or father or even relative or close friend for that matter, could be expected to have strong feelings against a non-medical person that was to sit in judgment of such a highly personal potential life or death determination of a child. Obama’s displeasure for what he terms as rumors was probably more directly aimed at Governor Palin’s comments. But I think they should be looked at as more of a natural gut response of a mother to one of her children’s well-being. Obama’s reaction is a heartless and callous attitude not becoming to a person of his status. Of course Sarah Palin was justified in thinking the worst of such a proposition that could possibly become an actual law. So there you have it, just one more piece of evidence that the great liberal Democrat experiment (aided and abetted by a handful of RINO’s) to “fix” our efficient, excellent and smoothly working medical care system, is as broken down as all their other attempts to “fix” the banks, and the auto industry. It’s been said many times, but it bears repeating on occasion for reminding us that Ronald Reagan told us to beware of people who say, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” Obama and company are from the government.
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Gerald A. “Jerry” McConnell, 92, of Hampton, died Sunday, February 19, 2017, at the Merrimack Valley Hospice House in Haverhill, Mass., surrounded by his loved ones. He was born May 27, 1924 in Altoona, Pa., the fifth son of the late John E. and Grace (Fletcher) McConnell.
Jerry served ten years with the US Marine Corps and participated in the landing against Japanese Army on Guadalcanal and another ten years with the US Air Force. After moving to Hampton in 1957 he started his community activities serving in many capacities.
He shared 72 years of marriage with his wife Betty P. (Hamilton) McConnell. In addition to his wife, family members include nieces and nephews.
McConnell’s e-book about Guadalcanal, “Our Survival was Open to the Gravest Doubts”