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Newsletter April 1, 2023
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This Issue's Contents
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Saying Goodbye
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I am proud to turn the mantle of leadership over to Mark Savan. I retired this month as Chair of Arizona End of Life Options after four years of volunteering my time and expertise. Mark has the leadership capacity to guide our organization into the next chapter of its life. From a small room at Temple Chai in Scottsdale, a group of us restarted AZELO in 2019. A number of highlights have occurred over the years. We increased our subscriber list for the Newsletter from around 400 people to 2,700 today. We conducted a state wide poll showing 60% of voters support Medical Aid in Dying (and only 16% oppose). We hired a lobbyist who helped us get meetings with Senator TJ Shope and Steve Montenegro. We are thankful for the willingness of Senator Eva Burch and Representative Chris Mathis for their sponsorship of the two bills we submitted this year. Our relationship with our national partners, Death with Dignity National Center and Compassion and Choices, remains strong. They have supported us in a number of ways these past years. We have posted hundreds of messages on social media to educate the Arizona public. We developed nine podcasts in our "Current Perspectives of Medical Aid in Dying” including a Christian minister's perspective, a Jewish rabbi's perspective, a public health perspective, a patient perspective, and a doctor’s perspective. You can find all nine on our website https://azendoflifeoptions.org/podcasts/. The southern region has been active with sponsoring Jack Has a Plan in October of 2022, Mary Ganapol's webinar on How To Advocate for MAID in Arizona, and the upcoming April 16 National Healthcare Decisions Day at the Loft Cinema in Tucson co-sponsored with Death with Dignity National Center. We installed a new data base, Action Network, which a large number of you used to contact your representatives this January and February. Most importantly, we are on the right side of this issue. The right to die with dignity, to decide to not spend one’s last months in pain and anxiety, is a patient's right. The 10 states + Washington DC that have medical aid in dying are inundated with requests from terminally ill patients, and have the capacity to meet their needs. Hopefully, some day Arizona adults will have that right. Dwight Moore, Ph.D, past Chair |
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AZELO Welcomes Mark Savan as New Chair |
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I'm very humbled and honored to step into the Chairperson role of AZELO at such an exciting time in our existence. I first want to say thanks to Dwight for his tremendous leadership over the past several years. He and his leadership team have built a great foundation on which to base our future efforts to help improve end of life options for Arizona residents. |
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As mentioned in this newsletter by Dwight and Leesa, this past year has been one of some frustration, but mostly of progress. We recently conducted our annual strategic planning session and our end goal remains clear - to pass a Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) law in Arizona. For 2023 our goal is to obtain a hearing in at least one house of the Arizona state legislature on a MAID bill. Such a hearing will allow for open dialog about our bill that will help to highlight the need for MAID, dispel misconceptions about it, and provide a public voice to those who believe in it. |
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Mark Savan, New AZELO Chair |
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We will build on our successes of the past year and will continue to emphasize citizen outreach to legislators as well as selective use of professional lobbyists to generate discussion with key decision-makers. We are finalizing plans for the specific actions that we will take towards this goal and the role that you, as an AZELO supporter, can play in them. We will share these with you in future newsletters. Thank you for your continued support of AZELO and our cause. You showed up big-time this year in writing to and communicating with legislators. You are the power behind our organization and our cause. We are, quite literally, nothing without you. Mark Savan |
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Legislative Update By Leesa Stevens, Legislative Advocacy Leader |
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While the 2023 Legislative session continues, our MAID (medical aid in dying) bill did not, and will not, move forward. We are disappointed, but as I mentioned in our last newsletter, we do feel we have made progress. Speaking with both our Senate and House Health chairs about our issue gave us some insight into their thoughts for agendizing our bill for the 2024 session. Now we need to begin building on that progress. It has been a busy year for AZELO's legislative team as we worked hard to understand which legislators support, oppose, or are undecided about our cause and those that can help us move our MAID bill forward. Thanks to all of you out there, who aided in this effort. I cannot emphasize enough how effective your tenaciousness has paid off in contacting your legislators, leading to a phone call or in-person visit! If you have been unsuccessful so far, please do not give up, but try again after the legislative session ends this spring. |
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In last month's newsletter you read about LD12's AZELO Action member's "Meet & Greet" with one of the their legislators attending. This is an excellent way to tell your stories and discuss our issue with lawmakers. We have volunteers around the state happy to help set these up. Just contact us. l.stevens@azendoflifeoptions.org Lastly, every legislator counts, but those listed below are crucial to our cause. Thanks again for all of your efforts! |
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Positions unknown, unclear, or opposed |
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LD1 Bliss, LD4 Gress, LD10 Parker, LD14 Peterson, LD16 Shope, LD28 Pingerelli, LD29 Shamp, LD30 Borrelli |
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Positions neutral or somewhat favorable |
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LD1 Bennett, LD12 Contreras, LD17 Wadsack |
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Upcoming Events
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Sunday, April 16th is National Healthcare Decisions Day |
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𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐲 Enjoy speakers, videos, door prizes and a goodie bag of resources. Guest speaker: Tucson's one and only David Fitzsimmons Where: Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, Tucson When: Sunday, April 16th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Free and open to the public with a $5 suggested donation. Bring a friend or two! Email BeforeIDieTucson@gmail.com to find out how to volunteer at this event. Sponsored, in part, by our national partners: |
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Classifieds - Help Wanted |
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Fundraising Coordinator |
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AZELO is seeking an experienced fundraiser to be in charge of strategy for the annual fundraising efforts and to execute the fundraising plan. This key individual will coordinate with AZELO Treasurer to effectively manage the funds. As you many know, as a non-profit, we have no paid staff members and operate from donations only. We need someone with experience in running a fundraising campaign to guide our efforts in raising funds for 2023. Please contact Mark Savan, Chair, Arizona End of Life Options at (216) 496-8251 or m.savan@azendoflifeoptions.org |
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April 4th is Arizona Gives Day! Remember AZELO when making your donation choices. Click on the blue box above 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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Arizona End of Life Options
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