When my son Gunner was born, it was the best day of my life. But it was followed soon after by the worst day of my life — when he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-threatening genetic disease. Gunner was just over two months old. I was shocked; I had never known anyone with CF.
Adding to this shock was finding out how Gunner would be impacted by the new nationalized healthcare system proposed by President Obama and Congress. It was worse than I’d ever imagined.
In our search for the best hospitals and treatments for CF in both the U.S. and abroad, we came across frightening statistics from countries with government-run healthcare systems. While the current life expectancy for an American CF patient is 37, in Ireland, the rate is 27. In the words of the Irish Times, this is a scandal.
A report by the British Cystic Fibrosis Trust found that none of the 38 CF centers in Britain reported that they received enough funding to provide government-recommended levels of care for patients.
According to President Obama and the Democrats in Washington, a nationalized healthcare plan isn’t so bad. But the examples above make it clear that for patients like Gunner, a nationalized system would mean the difference between life and death.
Here’s where my son loses his battle: President Obama has specifically said that the “chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill.” Therefore, we need to have a “difficult” and “democratic conversation” to give “guidance” as to what patients will receive life-sustaining, and expensive, treatment.
Should President Obama get his way, the life of my son and millions across the country who are elderly, chronically ill, or require expensive medical treatment, will be in the hands of some bureaucrat in Washington.
I want my family and my doctor to control my son’s healthcare decisions, not a government-appointed committee. I want my son to have access to life-saving drugs and tests, which would be limited. And I want my son to have access to CF nurses and doctors without long wait lines or delayed or denied treatment, which could decrease his life expectancy.
Gunner deserves to have the best chance for life and the best care available. At the very least, he deserves compassion. And yet one thing is clear: All of this will be stolen away if Washington takes over health care.
Kristan Hawkins is executive director of Students for Life of America. For more information visit: www.healthcareforgunner.com
