Want Government Health Care? Canada Shows us the Way

So you want national health care, do you? And you want to use the Canadian system as an example? Well, then, here's a fine example of what that means: the Province of Ontario has said that a thirteen month old baby with a terminal condition must be allowed to die rather than receive a tracheotomy. Basically, the doctors at the hospital in London, Ontario where the child is have decided that it was pointless. Ontario's Consent and Capacity board agrees.

Granted, the case is apparently headed for further review, as the parents of the baby disagree with the recommendation. It is now headed to the Ontario Public Guardian, whoever or whatever that is; but do you not notice how Big Brother the very titles of those government bodies read?

A tracheotomy does not appear to be all that difficult or costly of a procedure, and all the parents want to do (all they want to do sounds downright eerie in context, don't you think?) is have something done so that they may take their child home for the remainder of his life. They were, ahem, allowed the procedure for a daughter a few years back. Why not now?

Unless we are talking about the public's money being wasted. And what else can we be talking about?

To be sure, we here in the bad old U S of A hear all about the evil insurance companies who won't pay for certain medical procedures. Why are not we hearing so much about the evil Provincial Government in Ontario? Who do you fight when the leaders are against you? Who watches the watchers? Because any attempt to assure us that this won't happen here, that 'safeguards' will be put in place, can only be turning a blind eye to the events within the borders of our nearest neighbor. Any reasoning that we can stop such human rights abuses must now ring hollow.

How this will play is yet to be seen. But the simple fact that it is happening should be a wake up call to those who want the government telling us who can get health care, when, and how. That will happen here, my friends, once we're on the road to government health care of any type. And we will have no recourse when it does.