The health care reform bill passed Saturday night by the U.S. House requires the government to encourage suicide, according to U.S. Rep. Steve King.

While walking away from the U.S. Capitol, King, a Republican from Kiron, said page 644 of the health care bill says the government must “encourage the promotion of suicide or assisted suicide.”

But what King fails to point out is the sentence just before that line reads “Nothing in this section shall …” before listing several provisions that are prohibited, including the “promotion of suicide.”


When asked if the bill actually encouraged suicide, King seemed to acknowledge the falsehood by saying, “That’s what it says, but that’s not necessarily what it means. This is government, ya know.”

The portion of the bill in question refers to voluntary end-of-life counseling. It’s a provision that has been repeatedly attacked by Republicans. In August, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said the counseling would lead to government mandated euthanasia of the nation’s elderly, an untrue claim thoroughly debunked by political analysts, policy experts, and even one of Grassley’s fellow Iowa Republican lawmakers.