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Newsletter November 1, 2022
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This Issue's Contents
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Welcome New Subscribers! By Dwight Moore, PhD, Chair of Arizona End of Life Options Arizona End of Life Options (AZELO) is a grassroots volunteer coalition, organized to gain passage of a state medical aid in dying (MAID) law in Arizona. We have two fundamental goals: 1) Educate the Arizona public about Medical Aid in Dying, and 2) Pass the law so that terminally ill Arizonans might die with dignity. We have many new subscribers to this newsletter and our volunteer base is growing. As a result, we thought a "State of the Union" article would catch new folks up on our activities and allow our loyal readers to contemplate increasing their activities during this critical election time and then into the January session of the legislature. Our polling indicates that 60% of Arizonans support medical aid in dying and only 13% oppose it. Our challenge is to inform the other 27% who do not know about the law or where they stand. State-wide, a majority of all groups of gender, age, political party, political ideology (e.g. liberal, conservative, and independent), ethnicity, major religions, education level, income level, and geographic areas of the state support medical aid in dying. Read the 2022 Arizona Poll Results Here Despite this overwheming support from the public, we have not been able to get a hearing on the bills we have submitted to the legislature (via the Health and Human Services Committee), in the years we have attempted it. We intend to revise the bill language slightly and submit the new bill into the January, 2023 legislative process. You can Read the Summary of last year's Bill Here We have identified 42 candidates who are running for election on November 8th that support MAID. See table below this article to see if one of them is running in your legislative district. They would appreciate your support. We are also reaching out to other legislators who either don't support the law or who don't know much about it. This outreach will continue through January. After the election, we will work with AZELO volunteers to ask their Arizona lawmakers in the State Senate and State House to support passage of the MAID law. In order to meet our two goals, we have organized the state into 30 Action Teams (one per legislative district). These teams are sent an "action alert" each month to further our goals. October's action alert, for example, was to thank our supporters in the legislature (via email or phone) and to offer factual information about MAID to the others. Currently we have 400 action team members and we seek to increase that number. The next three months will be critical in influencing the passage of this law. In summary, welcome to the effort to pass a MAID law in Arizona. If you haven't already, please join your Legislative District Action Team (see the squawking bird below)! |
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Voter Guide for November 8th By Leesa Stevens and AZELO's Advocacy Legislative Team Our work on contacting and questioning the candidates who are running for office in this November's midterm election continues, and we now have identified 42 candidates who are in support of Medical Aid in Dying. Here's the updated list. Write down the names of those in your own legislative district and if you are still unsure who to vote for on Tuesday, November 8th, consider voting for those from this list. Spread the word as well, to your friends and family members. These leaders will help pass MAID in AZ!
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If you are curious about the names of the candidates who are opposed, just email me at l.stevens@azendoflifeoptions.org and I'll send you the complete list.
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November's Action Team Alert! By Dwight Moore, Chair After the November election results have been finally tabulated, we will be asking our Action Team members to send out an email to all the legislators we have not heard from regarding their position on MAID. The goal is to educate those undecided legislators, addressing their concerns/objections to medical aid in dying. The actual time that it will take to do this action step is 6 minutes. Look for your alert coming to your email inbox around November 15th. |
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Legislative District Action Teams, Join Today! By Marie MacWhyte, AZELO Digital Marketing Lead |
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Arizona is divided into 30 Legislative Districts (LD), each one represented by two State sentators and one House representative. These are the leaders who can pass our Medical Aid in Dying bill into law. At Arizona End of Life Options, we have formed our Action Teams along these same lines, so if you are in LD 1, for example, you'll be in Action Team 1 as well. |
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Each month we will sent out an action alert. These will be simple to do and we estimate they should take minutes to complete. Our goals are straight forward: Educate the Arizona public and our lawmakers about the facts of Medical Aid in Dying and urge the passage of this law. Join your Action Team; Help us Legalize MAID in AZ!
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Upcoming Events
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Six Choices at the End of Life: Real Patients, Real Stories Presented by AZELO Chair, Dr Dwight Moore, this zoom presentation describes the six choices people have about how they will exit this life and makes a case for considering Medical Aid in Dying as one of the choices. Audience participation is encouraged! Register by clicking this link: Your zoom link will be emailed to you, so check your spam folder if you don't see it!
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How to Advocate for Medical Aid in Dying in Arizona |
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Another new AZELO Webinar! This webinar can be described as MAID 101. We will take a detailed look at what the medical aid in dying (MAID) law is all about: the qualifications and the safeguards. We'll debunk the misconceptions and confirm the facts surrounding this topic which is often misunderstood by voters and lawmakers alike. |
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Want to feel comfortable talking to friends and family about MAID? By the end of this class, you will feel confident advocating for a MAID law in Arizona. Monday, November 14th from 6:00 - 7:00 pm Arizona Time Register by clicking this link: Your zoom link will be emailed to you, so check your spam folder if you don't see it! |
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Past Events |
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A Widow's Perspective By Mary Ganapol, Southern Arizona Lead Our national partners, Death with Dignity and Compassion and Choices, always stress the importance of story-tellers in carrying the message to voters and lawmakers. When Tucson mourned the death of a beloved musician, Alan Curtis Lewis (known by his stage name Al Foul), to laryngeal cancer, his widow chose to tell his story publicly. The Tucson Weekly published “Al Foul’s Widow Reflects on His Life and Legacy” written by Hannah Levin, a radio personality with KXCI: https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/al-fouls-widow-reflects-on-his-life-and-legacy/Content?oid=33128841 Hannah’s description of Al’s cancer journey is gut-wrenching, raw and honest. It illustrates the frustraton of living in a state that does not allow the option of medical aid in dying (MAID). These words will inspire countless others to join our efforts to pass a MAID law in Arizona. RIP Alan Curtis Lewis. |
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Click on this blue box to be taken to our donation form. If you have used this online form in the past, you may need to clear your cache/browser history if you get an error message. Then try again. However, if you'd rather mail in a check, please send it to: Death with Dignity Political Fund PO Box 2009 Portland, OR 97208 Please note on the check memo line "AZ C4" to ensure that it is properly accounted for. Thank you, Dear Donors!
Your generous gifts are being put to good use! |
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