From Students for Life of America:

Parents of children with disabilities tell Congress: "No rationing for our kids"

Joined by Members of Congress, over a dozen parents of kids with disabilities under Healthcare for Gunner coalition reveal severe rationing in healthcare bill

WASHINGTON, DC - "When rationing begins, you all will look at my son and other people with disabilities and may wonder what kind of drain he is imposing on this new limited system or wonder what he's taking away from you," said Jeanne Devine Bolewitz, mother of Josh, a patient with Down Syndrome, today at a press conference with over a dozen other parents of children with disabilities.

Joined by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers and Congressman Trent Franks, these parents came together today under the Healthcare For Gunner coalition to let President Obama and Congress know that it will be their children and their families who will suffer the most and be denied critical care under current health care reform plans.

"I want my family and my doctor to control my son's healthcare decision, not a government-appointed committee," said Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life of America founder of Healthcare for Gunner. "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 at the hands of some bureaucrat in Washington."

The parents issued a white paper on the effects of rationing as well as a letter to President Obama and House and Senate Leadership, detailing the severe repercussions of comparative effectiveness and Washington bureaucrats deciding who gets to live and who gets to die.

To see how rationing of health care would work for the disabled, look no further than other countries that have similar systems, like Canada and the United Kingdom. Just last week, a baby in the UK was born prematurely and the doctors refused to provide medical care because the government would not allow it. The mother said she was shocked "to discover that another child, born in the U.S. at 21 weeks and six days into her mother's pregnancy, had survived."[1]

Barb Farlow spoke today about her daughter, Annie, who was born with a genetic condition associated with grim statistics and serious disabilities. Annie died in a Canadian hospital 80 days after her birth. Barb investigated and was horrified at the results:

"We later discovered that no diagnostic tests had been done and a "do not resuscitate order" was written before we had provided consent," said Barb. "The discovery that our fundamental, parental rights had been violated in such a manner without cause has left us shocked and devastated. Sadly, we believe that to our medical system Annie was not a child but a label with associated statistics and a price tag. We will never know Annie's potential and so we grieve her death and the life she might have had."

Statements from all the parents, the white paper and the letter to President Obama are available at www.healthcareforgunner.com.

For interviews, please contact Arina Grossu or Kristina Hernandez at 703-683-5004.