FINAL OPTIONS ILLINOIS
Advancing the Right to Aid in Dying
Aid in dying
becomes law
in Colorado and DC
Measure passes by 2 to 1 margin in
Colorado
Aid in dying is now legal in California,
Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Montana
and Vermont, all across Canada, and in
several European countries
Our movement took two more huge steps
forward this month.
On November 8th, voters in Colorado passed
Proposition 106, the Colorado End of Life
Options Act, by an overwhelming 65% to 35%
margin. The law will go into effect in January.
Colorado thus becomes the sixth state to make
aid in dying legal, joining California, Oregon,
Washington, Vermont, and Montana.
Barbara Coombs Lee, president of the national
group Compassion & Choices, wrote: “What
gives me optimism is that at least this issue, our
issue, cuts so clearly and deeply across both
ends of the spectrum and all political parties.
Our ballot initiative in Colorado passed with 65%
of the vote in an election that saw razor-thin
margins for candidates in battleground states
like Colorado. In a nation divided, end-of-life
choice is one issue on which a solid two-thirds of
the people agree.”
Our motto: Our doctors can help us die –
if we let them. No one must ever be
encouraged or coerced to hasten their death,
but the law must be changed to allow it. So that
if our suffering becomes intolerable, we can
choose to end it, peacefully and painlessly.
Why we call it death with dignity:
because there’s no dignity in suffering.
Every one of us should have the right to choose
whether to say, and when to say:
“I’ve suffered enough, it’s time to go.”
It should be our choice, and no one else’s.
January 2017
Washington DC City Council
overwhelmingly approves law.
Mayor Muriel Bowser signs it.
Measure passes in the Council twice by
overwhelming 11 to 2 majority
Mayor Bowser signs it on Dec. 19
Bill could still be overturned by Congress
On November 1st and 15th, the Washington DC
city council passed a strong aid in dying bill by
an eleven to two majority, and on December 19
Washington mayor Muriel Bowser signed it. The
US Congress can override laws passed in the
DC city council, so the law’s not a done deal yet.
The review period is 30 days, so stay tuned.
Supporting the DC bill, Dr. Omega Silva said, “I
have three cancer diagnoses. As an internist
and endocrinologist for 45 years, I know from
experience some dying patients suffer
unbearably, even if they have the best spiritual
support, hospice and palliative care.” Dr. Silva
is the first woman president of the Howard
University Medical Alumni Association and a
former president of the American Medical
Women’s Association.
Explaining why he was voting for the bill, council
member Kenyan R. McDuffie described the
death of his father: “My family had to watch him
suffer, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else.
But I’m not basing this vote today on my own
story because there are thousands of other
people throughout the district who have had the
same experience.”
Hawaii Voters Express
Overwhelming Support for
Medical Aid in Dying Option
Eighty percent of Hawaii voters believe a
medical aid in dying option should be available,
giving a terminally ill person who’s mentally
capable the right to request and receive a
prescription for life-ending medication, according
to a new poll. This was BIG news in Hawaii on
December 21st. Let’s hope Hawaii becomes one
of the next states to make it legal.
Final Options Illinois – Advancing the Right to Aid in Dying –January 2017 – Page 2
Book review:
On My Own
Review by Merrie Star
by Diane
book published by Penguin Random House
“I feel betrayed,” were the words uttered by John
Rehm, when his hospice physician informed him
that in the state of Maryland he could not assist
in hastening his death after a nine-year decline
from Parkinson’s disease. His wife, Diane
Rehm, an acclaimed talk show host on National
Public Radio, was equally incensed, writing in
her touching memoir on losing her beloved
husband:
“I rage at a system that would not allow John
to be helped toward his own death.
He was of rational mind, with no hope of
recovery, knowing full well that the only way
ahead was a slow downward slide, moving
toward more incapacity and even greater
indignity.”
John at 81, and retired for many years, was a
well-regarded and highly successful attorney,
with a fierce intellect and resolute sense of
privacy and independence. He had suffered his
second bout of pneumonia right before entering
hospice, leaving him forever weakened and
most eager to die.
He expressed to both his wife and doctor that
because he could no longer walk, stand, eat,
bathe or care for himself, that he merely wanted
to be “put to sleep with medication” so he would
not have to suffer any further indignity. His
physician offered his patient the only legal option
available: refusing all food, fluids and medication
to treat his disease.
Diane watches over her husband in anguish for
the next ten days as he embarks on this final
passage. She, not un-reasonably demands to
know,
Fascinating new book Wisdom
Rehm
“…Why should my husband have to starve
himself to death? ...why should he have to be
alone in the dying process? I cry at the loss
of what might have been this final intimacy
between us, replaced by a long descent into
oblivion. Unaware of his family and friends
beside him, offering him a loving farewell and
wishing him a peaceful journey.”
The Rehms, a loving couple married for 54
years, of strong religious faith, are not only both
scarred by the ravages of Parkinson’s disease,
but are now deprived of a more peaceful and
compassionate parting. Diane continues to
chronicle her thoughts about her deep love and
respect for John and the personal agony she
feels by his absence.
Her work, which she always enjoyed, now
becomes her salvation, but not completely. She
struggles with the aftermath of feelings of not
only grief but a true sense of relief, and then,
overwhelming guilt because of this relief.
Tragically losing both parents before she turned
20, she is also painfully reminded of her own
issues regarding unalterable separation and
abandonment which she knows that she must
work through day by day.
She concludes her memoir by vowing to
continue her committed advocacy work with
Compassion and Choices after she retires at the
end of this year from NPR because,
“Each and every one of us should have the
right to choose. The idea of suffering as
being noble does not persuade me that
extending life for the sake of someone else’s
religious beliefs or social philosophy is fair
or even reasonable. Let each of us make our
own decision.”
From a Chair, Thirty Years of Quadriplegia
This fascinating new book is by the remarkable
Andrew “Drew” Batavia, who spent his very
full and far-too-short life advocating for civil
rights, including the right to make one’s own
healthcare decisions at the end of life.
Drew’s brother Mitchell Batavia wrote: “Drew’s
pioneering work in the right-to-die debate…from
a disability perspective was a hot button topic
and one that he saw as an extension of civil
rights of persons with disabilities – the right for
control over one’s life, including a personal
decision to end it. What gave him peace of
mind, however, was the notion that if life
became too unbearable, he could end it along
with his suffering. Apparently, he discovered
others in the disability community who thought
along similar lines.”
Final Options Illinois – Advancing the Right to Aid in Dying –January 2017 – Page 3
Distinguished physician Timothy Quill says our society needs
physician-assisted dying
A remarkable commentary appeared in
Medscape on December 5, in which ethicist
Arthur Caplan interviewed Dr. Timothy Quill,
professor at the University of Rochester School
of Medicine, director of the Center for Ethics,
Humanities and Palliative Care, and boardcertified in palliative care.
Asked “Do people sometimes reach the end of
tolerance for palliative care?”, Dr. Quill
responded, “Absolutely.” Asked whether the
best reason to make aid in dying legal is
listening … listening to the patient and trying to
honor what they want?, Dr. Quill responded:
“Absolutely.” Asked whether the laws now on
the books in US states should be emulated in
other states, Dr. Quill answered, “I do support
that.”
The crux of the interview centered around the
Hippocratic oath. Doctor Caplan asked, “A very
common criticism that swirls in this debate is
that physicians should do no harm. That goes
all the way back to Hippocrates. How do you
respond to those who say that doctors can’t
comit harm by assisting in dying?”
Dr. Quill replied: “It would be difficult for me
to construe addressing the suffering of a
terminally ill patient in some way as a harm.
It’s really an obligation. The question is, how
can we respond to those kinds of suffering?
We are involved in helping people die all the
time. Why do we do that? Because we take
care of people who are dying. Part of our
job, in my opinion, is helping people die
better. Again, I say that in a direct way
because it irks me when we say that doctors
shouldn’t help people to die.”
Dr. Quill concluded, “We need people who are
committed to caring for people all the way
through to their death as if they were family
members, being committed to relieving their
suffering. Sometimes that requires helping
people to die. It’s not a happy day when we’re
taking people off life support. We don’t like to do
it… we do it because we have to do it, because
the patient is saying that they don’t want it
anymore or they’ve had it. We understand it.
We all talk about it. We make sense of it and we
support each other. Again, we have to do these
things. Now, in Germany, aid in dying is legal,
but they don’t have doctors do it because of the
history there.”
From Compassion & Choices Magazine, Fall 2016
How to Get the Right Hospice
There are many questions to ask potential
hospice providers including whether in addition
to care at home, which is the norm, care might
be available in a facility, and whether they
provide respite for family caregivers in the home
setting.
For ensuring that your own end-of-life priorities
will be honored and respected in hospice, here
are key questions to ask:
---What practices does this hospice employ to
ensure the ongoing involvement of my loved
ones, caregivers and healthcare providers?
---What role will my own physician have once
my hospice care begins, and how will they work
with the hospice physician?
---Will this hospice provide me with palliative
sedation to keep me comfortable until I die if I
request it?
---If my pain or suffering cannot be controlled
and I choose to voluntarily stop eating and
drinking, which is my right, will this hospice
support me and my family in that process?
---If I decide to access medical aid in dying and
want to obtain a prescription, will this hospice
support me and my family in that process? (This
question is only applicable in states where
medical aid in dying has been authorized.)
Please visit Compassion & Choices’ End of
Life Information Center for resources to help
make these important decisions at
CompassionAndChoices.org/eolc.
www.FinalOptionsIllinois.org ● [email protected] ● @FinalOptionsIL
815-366-7942 or 224-565-1500 ● 1055 W. Bryn Mawr #F212, Chicago IL 60660
Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 1:30 pm
DuPage Unitarian Church, 1828 Old Naperville Road, Naperville
Sunday, January 29, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Woodstock Public Library, 414 West Judd Street
Thursday, January 26, 2017, at 6:30 pm
Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave
Free showings of the award-winning film
“How To Die in Oregon”
Distinguished physician Timothy Quill reaches
millions in the online journal Medscape:
Our society needs physician-assisted dying
New book by Andrew Batavia – “Wisdom from a Chair –
Thirty Years of Quadriplegia”
“I rage at a system that would not allow John to be helped
towards his own death...
Why should my husband have to starve himself to death?
Why should he have to be alone in the dying process?”
Book review – “On My Own”, by Diane Rehm
Hawaii voters: 80% support for aid in dying option
Washington DC city council overwhelmingly approves
aid in dying bill, Mayor Muriel Bowser signs it.
US Congress could still overturn it, however.
Colorado voters decisively approve aid in dying.
January 2017
Inside this issue…
FINAL OPTIONS ILLINOIS
Final Options Illinois
1055 W Bryn Mawr Ave #F212
Chicago IL 60660
ADDRESS CORRECTION
REQUESTED
More showings coming up
Of the award-winning film
“How To Die in Oregon”
6:30pm Thursday January 26
Evanston Civic Center
1:30pm Sunday January 29:
Woodstock Public Library
1:30pm Saturday February 18:
DuPage UU Church, Naperville
.
It’s a matter of life and death …
January 2017
Dear supporters of the right to death with dignity,
As we get sicker, and approach death, typically suffering increases, and often we face critical, life
and death choices. Which treatments should we have, and which are likely only to worsen or
prolong our suffering? These are never easy choices and they are always situational … you never
know how you’re going to feel about keeping on, or not, until it’s YOU that’s doing the suffering.
Sometimes suffering gets so extreme, even with the best palliative care, that you actively want to
die. You want to skip your final agonies. You just want to go to sleep. You’ve had it. You’re
done. We are people who want to be able to make that choice, if we find ourselves in that
situation. Intolerable suffering at life’s end can happen to any of us.
Certainly no one must ever be encouraged to hasten their death, let alone coerced, and the legal
change we seek includes stringent protections against any such abuse. (A critical criterion:
nobody qualifies just because of age or disability. You have to be suffering intolerably and
irremediably.) But the CHOICE to do so must become a fundamental right of every mentally
capable adult. Anything less is barbaric, and condemns many of us to horrendous agony.
With the effective leadership of the national groups Compassion & Choices and the Death With
Dignity National Center, our movement made tremendous strides in 2016. Aid in dying went into
effect in California and all across Canada, and passed in Colorado and Washington DC. In
Colorado and DC, the votes were by overwhelming majorities. This testifies that ours is an idea
whose time has come. People of all walks of life increasingly get it. Doctors increasingly get it.
Illinois is not yet a front-line state in this effort, but that’s what we’re working towards. Most
encouraging: we are working together with C&C and the American Civil Liberties Union in the
Illinois End of Life Options Coalition.
If you’d like to help make it happen in Illinois, please send your most generous contribution to Final
Options Illinois today. Contribute online on our website at ww.finaloptionsillinois.org, or mail the
form below. Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Thank you very much.
Ed Gogol, President
PS. The form below shows your most current information as we have it. Please update or correct as
needed, and please let us know your most current email address, if you have one.
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Final Options Illinois ● 1055 W. Bryn Mawr #F212, Chicago IL 60660 ● 815-366-7942 or 224-565-1500
www.finaloptionsillinois.org ● [email protected] ● Twitter: @FinalOptionsIL ● Jan 2017
Free Showings of Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winning Film
HOW TO DIE IN OREGON
Thursday, January 26, 2017, at 6:30 pm
Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave, Evanston
Sunday, January 29, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Woodstock Public Library, 414 West Judd Street, Woodstock
Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 1:30 pm
DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church, 1828 Old Naperville Road, Naperville
In 1994, Oregon made it a legal right for people who are dying to cut short their
suffering with a doctor’s aid. That legal right also exists now in the states of
California, Washington, Colorado, Vermont, and Montana, throughout Canada,
and in several European countries.
This fascinating film follows several terminally-ill Oregon residents who take
advantage of Oregon's aid-in-dying law. You will see why death-with-dignity laws
are so important. Even with the best palliative care, suffering at life’s end is
sometimes extreme. We all must have the right to choose to hasten our death to avoid needlessly suffering through the final, agonizing stages of dying.
Physicians and loved ones should have the legal right to aid patients without
fearing prosecution.
This outstanding film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2011. A
discussion will follow the free screening.
The film's sponsor, FINAL OPTIONS ILLINOIS, is working to ensure that mentally
capable adults suffering intolerably at end of life have the basic human right to choose a
peaceful, dignified, humane, and pain-free death.
FINAL OPTIONS ILLINOIS ● www.FinalOptionsIllinois.org
[email protected] ● 815-366-7942 or 224-565-1500
The Illinois End of Life Options Act
Proposed legislation drafted by the Illinois End of Life Options Coalition
A joint project of Final Options Illinois, Compassion & Choices, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois
Modeled after the proven and tested Oregon law
Closely modeled after extremely successful death-withdignity legislation in Oregon, Washington, California,
and Vermont, the Illinois End of Life Options Act will
provide a compassionate choice to the suffering
terminally ill, with robust and tested protections. The
Oregon law was first passed in 1994.
Strictly for the terminally ill
To take advantage of the law, you must be terminally ill,
an adult, mentally competent, and an Illinois resident.
Nobody qualifies just because of age or disability.
Includes robust and tested protections for patients
The process starts when you request of your physician
that he/she prescribe medication that you will selfadminister to hasten your death.
Your physician and a second, consulting physician must
agree that you are terminally ill – that in their
reasonable medical opinion you can be expected to die
within six months. Both doctors must agree that you
are mentally competent and capable of making an
informed decision. If either doctor has any doubts, they
must refer you for evaluation to a licensed psychologist
or psychiatrist, and the process may only proceed if that
professional concludes that you are mentally
competent and capable of making an informed decision.
It can’t be done on impulse
Hastening death cannot occur impulsively. You must
make three separate requests, two oral and one
written. There are two separate waiting periods:
fifteen days from the time of the first request, and two
days from the time of the written request. The written
request must be witnessed by at least two persons, at
least one of whom must be unrelated to you and
without any expectation of financial interest in your
estate.
Informed decision-making is required
At every stage of the process, your physician must
ensure that you are making an informed decision, make
it clear that you will die if you take the medication to be
prescribed, and explain the alternatives including
hospice and palliative care. At every stage your
physician must provide you with the opportunity to
rescind your request. This is critical: no one is ever
being forced or encouraged to hasten their death, and
the patient may change their mind at any time.
Provides choice at the end of life
If every condition is met, your physician may prescribe
“medication to be self-administered to hasten death.”
After that point, it’s up to you. Twenty years of
experience with the Oregon law shows that many of the
people who obtain the needed prescription, never use it
to hasten their death. Often, just knowing that you
have the means to end your suffering should it become
intolerable, gives people the comfort to go on day by
day, until they die without aid of the law.
Protects your doctors, nurses, and loved ones
The law is explicit that you are hastening your death,
not “committing suicide.” Your doctors, nurses and
loved ones are protected against prosecution for
“assisting” in a suicide or “inducing” to suicide. Goodfaith compliance with the Act may not be construed as
unprofessional conduct or considered neglect. The law
mandates that your death certificate shall list your
underlying illness as the cause of death, and prohibits
any clause in any contract or insurance policy from
being conditioned upon or affected by your taking
advantage of or not taking advantage of the Act.
No one is obligated to participate
No doctor, pharmacist or health care facility is obligated
to participate in the Act. A health care facility which
declines to participate in the Act, and which provides
notice of this to physicians, may prohibit any physician
from participating in the Act on its premises.
A compassionate godsend for the suffering
As in Oregon, Washington, California, and Vermont, the
law can be expected to be used by only a small
percentage of dying patients – but for suffering people
nearing the end of their lives, it can be a godsend. This
is a simple matter of human rights. Physicians
participating in the law are acting ethically and fulfilling
the highest obligations of their calling to relieve
suffering.
For more information, please visit:
www.FinalOptionsIllinois.org
Truth in Treatment:
A New Movement to Improve End-of-Life Care
Featuring Kim Callinan
Chief Program Officer, Compassion & Choices
Moderated by State Rep. Robyn Gabel
Monday, March 20, 2017 – 6:00 pm
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 565 W. Adams, Chicago
Truth in Treatment: Help millions of Americans regain control over their healthcare at the end of life.
Millions of Americans approaching death increasingly find themselves on a conveyor belt of unnecessary,
unwanted and painful medical treatment. These procedures often prolong the dying process at the expense
of quality time with loved ones and passing at home peacefully. And that won’t change if patients remain illequipped to take charge of their own care.
Compassion & Choices recently rolled out its newest initiative, Truth in Treatment™, to give older adults
with life-threatening illnesses the permission, opportunity and courage to live life to the fullest even as
illnesses advance. Truth in Treatment is a social movement that will empower consumers to make their voice
heard in a health system where the patient doesn’t really choose treatment.
Join us to learn more about this transformative new initiative. Hear from Kim Callinan, Chief Program Officer
of Compassion & Choices, who will describe the personal advocacy challenges facing people with life
threatening illness. She also will share how we can support the movement to empower and educate patients
so they can make fully informed healthcare choices and live their remaining time on their own terms.
Kim Callinan has served since 2015 as the chief program officer at
Compassion & Choices, the leading national nonprofit organization
committed to improving care and expanding choice at the end of
life. She also serves in the same capacity for the Compassion &
Choices Action Network, a 501(c)4 organization that advocates and
lobbies for laws that protect and expand end-of-life options
throughout the nation.
Ms. Callinan brings two decades of experience creating integrated
campaigns to engineer social change for government agencies,
nonprofit organizations, foundations and political campaigns. She has a master’s degree in public policy from
Georgetown University, a graduate certificate in public health from the University of South Florida and a
bachelor’s degree in government from Oberlin College.
IllinoisEndOfLifeOptions.org
The Illinois End of Life Options Coalition is a joint project of Compassion & Choices
(www.compassionandchoices.org), the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (www.aclu-il.org), and
Final Options Illinois (www.finaloptionsillinois.org)