Living in the Bullseye of Euthanasia.(physical disability disqualifies patients from life-saving therapy)

I live every day in the bullseye of euthanasia, always aware that I am a target for "mercy killing." Just one sickness, medical emergency, or accident separates me from those who would kill me and call it "death with dignity."

While a hospital is a place of healing and care, it is also a potential place of danger for those of us who are disabled, elderly, or chronically ill. Whenever I have been admitted to a hospital, I experience a certain apprehension, knowing that medical caregivers may "opt out" of providing me lifesaving medical treatment if they decide my quality of life is not sufficient to justify their effort and expense.

You see, I am a disabled Marine combat veteran, critically wounded in Vietnam and residing in a wheelchair for the past 34 years. During my two-year, three-month-long hospitalization, which included 27 surgeries, doctors employed many heroic efforts, hooked me to numerous machines, and saved my life. That was from late 1969 to early 1972. Today, that extraordinary level of effort is considered intrusive and burdensome, and characterized as just prolonging suffering.

That is why obtaining National Right to Life's Will to Live is not just an option, but imperative for those of us who believe in the intrinsic value of life. Everyone is just an accident or illness away from joining me in the bullseye of the growing threat of euthanasia. Even now, many senior citizens are pressured to sign "Do Not Resuscitate" orders when admitted to the hospital. They are devalued because of age. As our Medicare and Medicaid systems lurch from one fiscal crisis to the next, the pressure increases to save money by denying medical care to those who are most expensive. That includes me along with others living with either physical or mental disabilities, or those with ...