What are Birthers, Deathers, and Tenthers?

In my previous post, I referred to birthers, deathers, and tenthers. Someone asked for definitions.


Birther: Someone who despite all the overwhelming evidence, questions if President Obama was born in U.S. and therefore questions if he meets the Constitutional requirements to be president. The anger and persistence of some implies a racist agenda, questioning how an African-American could have been elected.


Deather: Someone who claims that President Obama's health care reforms include hastening the death of the elderly and people with disabilities through rationing or denial of health care or euthanasia. This is conscious misinformation by opponents of not only reform but of almost everything President Obama does, which again suggests some racist motivations.


Among the proposed reforms is a guarantee of Medicare reimbursement to a physician for regular end of life discussions with their patients. The discussions would be voluntary and would include options such as hospice and palliative care, and the preparation of advanced directives.


President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel’s brother, Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, has written articles discussing questions such as the appropriateness of aggressive chemotherapy for a very elderly person with terminal cancer. This has been distorted to imply he is advocating withholding care or euthanizing the elderly.


Among the “Deathers” is former Alaska governor Sarah Palin who while governor actively encouraged Alaskans to prepare advance directives.


Tenthers: Someone who claims the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the Federal government from doing anything regarding health care.


The Tenth Amendment states:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The tenthers ignore that a significant portion of health care is already provided by the Federal government through Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, care for active duty military personnel and their dependents, and the provision of private insurance for Federal employees.


The Tenth Amendment has been inappropriately cited over the year to oppose such Federal actions as enforcement of civil rights which adds to the suspicion of racist motivations.


The tenthers ignore years of Supreme Court decisions that have settled this issue.