In 2009, Obama's healthcare proposal required health insurance to pay for a doctor to discuss end-of-life options with patients. This could have helped save hundreds of thousands of dollars for each patient who opted out of the pointless treatments Ken described in his article. The Republicans/religious right/pro-lifers killed it by claiming that government "death panels" would decide who would and who would not get care.
In the Terri Schiavo case, the Florida legislature, the Governor of Florida, Republicans in Congress, and President George W Bush all worked to keep a brain-dead woman on life support for seven years. She would still be on life support if they had their way. A Wikipedia article concluded with "Various organizations and protesters demanded that Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted. Most of these groups were affiliated with the Christian right."
I conclude that the Christian right is contributing to the problem you describe.
