Pulling through

Some six decades ago my mother used to listen to the immortal Fanny Brice on the radio playing her Baby Snooks character. In one episode, she and her father are on their way to visit his boss who is ill and in hospital. He tells his young daughter to say something cheerful to the patient, such as "I hope they pull you through." Upon their arrival, the boss groans in pain: "I'm at death's door," to which Baby Snooks dutifully replies, "I hope they pull you through."

It seems that the state of Oregon, perhaps soon to be followed by neighbouring Washington, is taking this notion of pulling people through a little too literally, as indicated in this story: Oregon's Suicidal Approach to Health Care. To the culture of death it seems that life is a mere commodity, to be disposed of when its maintenance is no longer cost-effective.