Gingrich warns of euthanasia

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. healthcare reforms could result in a government-run system in which euthanasia may be established, a top Republican said Sunday.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," claimed that an article written by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and a U.S. healthcare adviser, shows Democrats want to establish "death panels" to make end-of-life decisions as part of their healthcare reform proposals.

"It sets up 45 different agencies. It has all sorts of panels," Gingrich said. "You're asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there clearly are people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards."

Gingrich was echoing claims made by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who on Saturday called President Barack Obama's healthcare proposals "downright evil."

The Washington publication The Hill quoted her as saying, "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society' whether they are worthy of healthcare."