The Arizona Republic newspaper reported:
Busloads of retirees from the Sun Cities, Tucson and Green
Valley marched on the Arizona House of Representatives on
Wednesday hoping to force action on proposed right-to-die
legislation for the terminally ill.
If the bills fail, as they have in the past, supporters hope
to take the issue to voters. If passed, one bill would allow
certain dying patients to request a lethal prescription from
their doctor. The other would allow those patients more control
over their pain medications, even if the medications could
result in death.
Calling their effort "The Million Geezer March,"
about 100 rallied in support of the proposed bills sponsored
by Rep. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson. They mirror Oregon's Death
with Dignity Act passed by ballot initiative in that state
in 1997. Oregon is the only state with such laws.
Many marchers, some pushing walkers with one hand and carrying
picket signs in the other, said they did not expect the bills
to make it out of the House Health Committee. In response,
the supporters, most from Compassion & Choices Arizona,
formerly known as the Hemlock Society, said they are in the
preliminary stages of launching a ballot initiative.
The biggest challenge is raising money to support a campaign
that could rival those of opposing groups such as the Catholic
and Mormon churches, said group president Margot Champagne.
The bills' supporters also face opposition from the Center
for Arizona Policy and conservative politicians.
"I do not support a right to die bill because then it
becomes a right to kill bill," said Rep. Nancy Barto,
R-Phoenix. Barto said she fears such prescriptions could be
abused, fall into the wrong hands or be recommended to those
deemed "unworthy of living."
Lopez, however, argued that Oregon's law has a proper system
of checks and balances to avoid abuse. She said similar laws
in Arizona would make the right to die an individual choice,
and could ease the physical suffering or humiliation sometimes
felt by those with terminal illness.
At 56, Sun City resident Marsha Rutt was one of the youngest
marchers, but she said she and other boomers are struggling
with the deaths of their parents and must face their mortality.
"I watched my mother-in-law, who had a living will, die
in her living room in pain, wearing diapers and a hospital
gown. She lost her dignity," Rutt said.
