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The Truth About the Health Care Bills

Michael Connelly, a retired attorney and Constitutional law instructor from Texas, has written his analysis and critique of the proposed health care bill.

Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.

To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.

The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.

However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.

The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn’t have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.

This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.

If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed “acceptable” to the “Health Choices Administrator” appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a “tax” instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn’t work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the “due process of law.

So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn’t stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;” The 10th Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.

I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to “be bound by oath or affirmation” to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.

For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
And another to the Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.

Read more of his thoughts and writings here.

H/T Freedom Torch

The Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version

How many doctors currently take the original Hippocratic Oath? If you want a true and meaningful health care reform, lets start with the physicians living up to this.

I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:

To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.

I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.

I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.

I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.

Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.

What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.

If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.

Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.

Swine Flu - Time to Panic?

Mercola weighs in.

Update.

Facts to Ponder

Some interesting food for thought via To The Point News.

Doctors:
(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.

Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.

Now think about this:

Guns:
(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. (Yes, that's 80 million)
(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
(C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is .000188.

Statistics courtesy of FBI

So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

Remember, "Guns don't kill people, doctors do."

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!

Out of concern for the public at large, we have withheld the statistics on Lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.

What's In A Flu Shot

HPV Vaccine Update

More news on the controversial Texas HPV vaccine mandate. GOPUSA reports that the American College of Pediatricians is strongly opposing that students be required to have the vaccination due to the false sense of security and health risks.

Conflict Of Interest For Texas HPV Vaccine

Texas is trying to become the first state to mandate that all schoolgirls be immunized with the Human Papilloma Virus vaccine, starting with girls as young as 11. Now on the surface this sounds like a good idea, right? HPV is an STD that causes certain types of cervical cancer in women. Who wouldn't want to reduce their chances of contracting it?

Well, since this vaccination is so new we don't know what type of side effects it may cause later in life, and it doesn't stop all types of HPV, only some of the most common. Of course, when you give a kid a vaccine that is supposed to keep her from contracting an STD this young, doesn't it make sense that she's more likely to engage in sexual activity at a younger age? Just like handing boys condoms or putting girls on the pill, it's empowering them to go at because now it's "safe."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is pushing for the legislature to pass the requirement right away. Why is he so concerned about it you ask? Well, upon closer scrutiny of this fiasco, the main lobbyist group for the vaccine is of course Merck, the same company who is producing the vaccine. The Governor's former chief of staff, Mike Toomey, is one of Merck's main Texas lobbyists, and Perry himself has received $6000 from the big Pharm giant during his reelection campaign.

Sounds like a very big conflict of interest if you ask me. Read more here.

SOTU - My Thoughts

Everyone and his brother has been talking/commenting/submitting their views about President Bush's state of the union address so I might as well give my two cents worth on the shebang.

The beginning of the speech was a complete bore. I totally do not agree with his portrayal of the No Child Left Behind act which he says has been such a huge success. Every teacher I've spoken with has said they have been forced to dumb down their tests so those students who are lacking can move ahead, rather than have the entire class stay behind because a few students can't meet the standards. GPA's may be up, but ACT & SAT scores are down.

Bush's health care plan will for sure get shot down by the Dems. The system needs to be overhauled so that those insured people who are in good health are not paying for the unhealthy and uninsured through their own premiums and deductibles. The first step in doing this would be to ween the masses off of the overabundance of prescription drugs being taken for every ache, pain, and discomfort. The focus should be on wellness, and not on sickness. The pharmaceutical and insurance companies are to blame for this one.

Oh immigration. Of course we all want secure borders and some type of immigration reform. However, granting those who are here illegally a temporary workers permit is not that answer. It may not be straight up amnesty, but it is definitely giving an unfair advantage to those who have broken our laws to begin with. Plus, Bush didn't even touch on the fact that the entire immigration system is so over-worked and under-staffed that many people with criminal backgrounds and ties to terrorism are falling through the cracks.

Bush's push for energy independence through alternatives is a great idea, however, it's still easier said than done. Of course, the system will never change unless its economically feasible for the auto and energy companies to develop alternatives. Here's an idea that might solve the problem, but could at least help with our dependence upon the middle east.

Great idea about electing the impartial, qualified judges. Of course they still have to go through the approval of the Senate. Good luck with that one.

Terrorism. This is where Bush sounded like the man of principle we elected. He sounded more confident and determined about this part of the speech than any other. The additional troops being sent to Iraq should help clean up Baghdad, however, we should've had this surge a long time ago, not as a last ditch effort. The Civilian Reserve Corps is a great idea, as is the increase in active duty military.

I don't agree with the president's HIV/AIDS relief plan. Although he did not mention the specifics of it, generally the idea of AIDS relief is to give them all condoms, thinking that will help stop the spread of disease. We all know how high the failure rate of condoms is so how is this going to work? Teach them to control themselves, don't give them a reason to be more self indulgent.

Everything being said, it wasn't the president's best speech ever, but he certainly came out with a lot more firepower than I was expecting.

Babies Aborted For Not Being Perfect

The Drudge Report posted this story this morning.

Babies aborted for not being perfect
20:32pm 28th May 2006

The ethical storm over abortions has been renewed as it emerged that terminations are being carried out for minor, treatable birth defects.

Late terminations have been performed in recent years because the babies had club feet, official figures show.

Babies are being aborted with only minor defects.
Other babies were destroyed because they had webbed fingers or extra digits.

Such defects can often be corrected with a simple operation or physiotherapy.

The revelation sparked fears that abortion is increasingly being used to satisfy couples' desire for the 'perfect' baby.

A leading doctor said people were right to be 'totally shocked' that abortions were being carried out for such conditions.

Campaigners warned we are turning into a society that can no longer tolerate imperfection. Doctors were recently told they can now screen IVF embryos to try to weed out inherited cancers.

Ethical groups fear parents are opting for abortions because they are not told of the support and help available if they continued with the pregnancy.

Details of the terminations emerged as new figures revealed an alarming rise in the use of an abortion pill that has been linked to 10 deaths.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that between 1996 and 2004, 20 babies were aborted after 20 weeks because they had a club foot.

It is one of the most common birth defects in Britain, affecting one in 1,000 babies each year. That means around 600 to 700 babies are born annually in the UK with the problem, which causes the feet to point downwards and in severe cases can cause a limp.

However it can be corrected without surgery using splints, plaster casts and boots. Naomi Davis, a leading paediatrician at Manchester Children's Hospital who specialists in correcting club feet, said: 'I think it is reasonable to be totally shocked that abortion is being offered for this.

'It is entirely treatable. I can only think it is lack of information.'

Figures also show that four babies were aborted since 1996 because they were found to have webbed fingers or extra digits, which can be sorted out with simply surgery.

Remarkable pictures recently have revealed how at just 23 weeks baby in the womb appears to smile, yawn and flinch in pain.

In 2004 it emerged a baby was aborted at 28 weeks after scans showed it had a cleft palate. Curate Joanna Jepson tried to ensure criminal charges were brought against the two doctors involved but the authorities last year decided against prosecution.

She however vowed to continue in her fight to make terminations illegal after 24 weeks and to ensure cleft palates were not included within the term 'serious handicap' and used to justify late abortions.

Ms Jepson reacted angrily to news of the club foot abortions.

'The law was not designed for this,' she said. 'Actions like these are fostering a disposable attitude to human life and I'm extremely concerned it is going on.

'I am appalled that the medical profession is allowing or even suggesting abortions for these conditions.'

Sue Banton, founder of the group Steps for parents of children with foot disorders, said last year one couple decided to terminate a pregnancy at 25 weeks after discovering their baby would have a section of foot missing.

'We gave them other families to talk to, but they just didn't want to know,' she said. 'It is terrible.

'I know lots of perfectly nice people with this condition and you just can't imagine them not being here.'

Pippa Spriggs from Cambridge, whose son Isaac is celebrating his second birthday in July, was dismayed when as scan showed her baby had a club foot.

'Abortion certainly was not openly advised but it was made clear to me it was available,' she said.

'In fact he has been treated and the condition has now slowed him down at all.'

Julia Millington, of the Alive and Kicking Campaign, said: 'It is all about our perceptions of perfection.

'Increasingly things are moving along the lines where nothing is good enough.

'It seems we can no longer tolerate any imperfection.

'Babies are at the mercy of ultrasound scans and what they may disclose.'

Michaela Aston, from the pro-life group LIFE, said: 'One sympathises for many of the parents of these unborn children aborted after disability has been detected.

'What information are they being given by health care professionals so that they can make a truly informed choice?

'We suspect that many parents make the decision to opt for abortion in complete ignorance of the help and support available to children with disabilities and their families.

'For this, health care professionals must shoulder a large part of the blame.

'If, as a society, we are truly committed to equality for people with disabilities then such blatant discrimination against the disabled unborn must stop.'

But Jane Fisher of the charity Antenatal Results and Choices defended the right of parents to terminate pregnancies when defects are found. 'This is not part of a move towards designer babies,' she said.

'These are difficult and painful issues.'