RIGHT TO LIVE? - Insurance refuses cancer treatment, tells patient suicide drug is only $1.20 copay

What does it say when the right to die is easy and the right to live is impossible?

One Catholic woman in California has won the right to live a little longer after her insurance company refused to pay for her chemotherapy. Stephanie Packer, has an incurable form of cancer, but wanted more time with her family. She did not expect she would have to fight for the right to live.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Stephanie Parker, 33, is a wife and a mother of four children. She is a Roman Catholic who lives in California, one of the states where physician assisted suicide is legal. In other words, Californians have a legally contrived thing known euphemistically as, "the right to die."

The right to die is suicide, and it is permissible for terminally ill patients who following consultation with their doctor choose to die rather than to go on living.

Packer was diagnosed with scleroderma in 2012. It is a form of cancer which causes hardening of the skin, arteries, and some internal organs. It is always fatal. The best a patient can do is receive treatment to prolong their life.

When packer asked for chemotherapy so she could spend more time with her four kids, her insurance company had a shocking reply. They refused to pay for the drug.

When asked about suicide drugs, the insurance company admitted they could be had for as little as a $1.20 copay.

Packer fought with her insurance company who only relented after she threatened to tell her story to the media. She is now receiving the medication she needs, but nobody knows how many other people are going without their drugs or considering suicide.

Packer argued that many people become tired as a result of their disease and may be pressured into choosing suicide when they would rather live. "They're so tired and don't have the strength to deal with the fight. Instead, they'll take the assisted suicide option because it's easier," she wrote on her blog, "Stephanie's Journey."

"If you don't advocate for yourself and the proper treatment, you are a prime target for those who want you to take the easiest course and end your life quickly," she explained.

Recently, cases such as Brittany Maynard's suicide have garnered national attention. The media has portrayed suicide as a right and a glamorous, dignified thing. Suffering is to be avoided at all costs. But these are lies.

Suffering has a role in our Christian formation. Suffering allows us to grow closer to God if we approach it with the right attitude. Suffering is not fun or desirable, and we should not seek it out, but when we are given a cross to bear, we should take example from Christ and not refuse what has come to us.

Suicide removes God as the king of our life; it artificially shortens what God has intended for us. Laws that encourage suicide while discouraging life are clearly inspired by satan, and should not be praised. We should be leery of sources which speak approvingly of manufactured rights such as "the right to die."

Above all, the cost for lifesaving medication should be every bit the same as the cost for life ending drugs. If your life can be ended for just $1.20, imagine how much good could come from a life being saved at the same cost or less.

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