Democrats often chant “My Body, My Choice” whenever the subject of abortion comes up. But for the Party of Hypocrisy, that’s about as far as the slogan holds sway.
In a vote Tuesday, House Democrats killed a bill that would have given patients with terminal illnesses a right to try unproven experimental treatments.
Wrote The New York Times:
The bill was considered under special fast-track procedures that required a two-thirds majority for passage, and it fell short. When the roll was called, 259 House members supported the bill, and 140 opposed it.
Most of the opposition came from Democrats, who said the bill gave false hope to patients and could actually endanger people dying of incurable diseases, because it would undermine protections provided by the Food and Drug Administration.
“By defeating this bill tonight, we protected patients and supported F.D.A.’s continued role in approving experimental treatments that may help save a patient’s life,” said Representative Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, the senior Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee. “This bill should have never been on the House floor in the first place since it was only introduced today.”
But, of course, the chance to use a not-yet-approved drug does not, in fact, offer “false hope,” as Democrats argue. Scientific breakthroughs happen every day, but because there is so much bureaucratic red tape, life-saving drugs often take years to become available to Americans.
And how, exactly, would taking an unapproved drug “endanger people dying of incurable diseases”? Good lord, you mean it might be (gasp) fatal!? They’re dying already, duh.
Just like the Democrats, though — they want the federal government in charge of everything, even whether you can try a last-ditch effort that might save your life.
Republicans, meanwhile, said Americans deserve the right to try to save their own lives.
“Our bill will give some relief to terminally ill patients who have no further options left to extend their lives,” said Representative Andy Biggs, a freshman Republican from Arizona, where a state right-to-try measure won 78 percent of the vote in a 2014 referendum. “All Americans have the right and freedom to try to save their lives.”
President Trump has pushed the idea. In his State of the Union address in January, he said, “People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure. I want to give them a chance right here at home. It’s time for Congress to give these wonderful, incredible Americans the right to try.”
But not for Democrats. They want babies to die, and the sick and elderly, too. But just don’t try to execute a child murderer. That they simply won’t stand for!