Insurance won’t pay for meds that ease pain….

…but they’ll cover the meds that end it all.

This just out from the campaign in Washington state againist the assisted suicide bill on the ballot.

A new television ad in Washington State shows footage of an interview with a recently deceased Oregon woman whose insurance company said it would pay for the drugs with which she could kill herself, but not for a potentially helpful treatment.

Barbara Ann Wagner was refused insurance coverage for the drugs that her doctor recommended to help treat her cancer. Instead she was sent a letter from her insurance company that offered to pay for a lethal dose of “medication.”

After Wagner’s story went public, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the potentially helpful drugs stepped forward and offered the treatment for free. Tragically, Wagner passed away from cancer on October 18, but, as the anti-euthanasia ad says, left a “final message.”

“They will pay to kill me but they will not give me the medication to try to stop the growth of the cancer,” says a tearful Wagner in the ad, who then urges: “People of Washington, don’t vote this (I-1000) in.”

Actor Martin Sheen has joined the campaign with his own ad, urging the same thing.

“I try to work when I’m not on the screen to help improve conditions for the most vulnerable people in our country — low wage workers, immigrants, the disabled and the poor,” Sheen said. “We have a health care system where the more money you have, the better medical care you receive. Initiative 1000 is a dangerous idea — because so many people do not have the money necessary to get the care they need. When I heard about Initiative 1000, I wanted to help stop it before it harms people who are at risk.”

They, and South Dakota (see below), need help from across the nation. Because that’s just where these measures are heading if the forces against life prevail on election day.