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Get Involved Online Resources
• About Us Just For You
Do you own one or more appreciated assets that produce little or no income? Sale and reinvestment of those assets could result in substantial capital gains. Click here to receive our brochure entitled Maximize and Increase Return to learn how a Gift and Sale can result in a double tax benefit. Take Two for the Team
Even the snowy winter weather could not keep the four friends from following through their New Year's resolutions. For more years than anyone could remember, Kathleen, Brad, Tom and Dianne got together on the first Saturday after New Year's Day. Sale and Unitrust
Gene and Carol White purchased stock in a small medical service company several years ago. The company has done well. A larger company is now discussing the possibility of buying the smaller company. Gene and Carol are looking for a way to save taxes. Savvy Senior: Generic Drug Savings
Are generic medications as effective as brand-name drugs, and if so, why are they so much cheaper? Also, how can I find out which medicines are available in generic form? Compassion & Choices Launches New Blog: In December, Compassion & Choices launched a new blog (or Web log) focusing on the most current end-of-life advocacy and issues. Updated weekly, the blog will feature writing by Carla Axtman, Online Community Builder for Compassion & Choices. It will include commentary from Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee, as well as guest authors posting their own experiences and stories in the weeks and months ahead. Compassion & Choices volunteer Pat Tucker writes about personal experiences and issues affecting her home state of Montana. Tucker's first entry is a poignant story about her mother's decision to write a living will, specifying exactly what kind of treatment she wanted when she reached life's end. In addition to personal stories, blog visitors will read the latest aid-in-dying news and updates on relevant pending legislation and lawsuits, such as Baxter v. Montana. You can access our Voice 4 Choice blog here. Chicago-Area Volunteers Needed
Compassion & Choices seeks key individuals who might be interested in becoming End-of-Life Consultation (EOLC) volunteers in the Chicago area. EOLC volunteers work directly with individual clients and their family members, helping them effectively navigate the health care system, gain access to palliative and hospice care, complete advance medical directives and direct their own dying. The role of an EOLC volunteer is fairly challenging work - both physically and emotionally. We seek individuals who have professional or life experiences that have prepared them to work comfortably with dying clients, their families and friends. Helping others in their most vulnerable time is highly rewarding, allowing volunteers the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of others. If you or someone you know, is interested in learning more about this opportunity please contact Jennifer McLellan, Volunteer Programs Manager, at 1-800-247-7421, ext. 2152, or jmclellan@ compassionandchoices.org. Tell Your Story We want to know why you support Compassion & Choices and the right to choice at the end of life. E-mail your story to info@ compassionandchoices.org or mail it to our office at PO Box 101810, Denver, CO, 80250. Compassion & Choices is a nonprofit organization working to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. As a national organization with over 60 chapters and 50,000 supporters, we help patients and their loved ones face the end of life with calming facts and choices of action during a difficult time. We also aggressively pursue legal reform to promote pain care, put teeth in advance directives and legalize aid in dying. PO Box 101810 |
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In this issue:
In Thought and Action is sent to more than 25,000 subscribers every month. We encourage you to forward this e-newsletter to an interested colleague or friend. Anyone can subscribe by sending an e-mail to info@compassionandchoices.org. If at any time you wish to unsubscribe, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email.
Many of you took the trouble to contact Congress, and then President-Elect Obama, expressing your desire that this regulation be blocked. We appreciate your concern about the Bush Administration's eleventh-hour attempt to implement an ill-advised and far-reaching Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation. On his first day in office, President Obama announced the suspension of pending regulations proposed in the final days of the Bush Administration. The key word is "pending;" the President's action had no impact on regulations that took effect prior to Obama's inauguration. Unfortunately, the so-called "right of conscience" regulation adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) became law the day before inauguration. Obama's suspension announcement did not affect this rule. Our new leaders have options available to undo regulations taking effect in Bush's waning days. Compassion & Choices deems this issue of utmost urgency. It is now more important than ever to make your voice heard. If you have not already done so, please take a moment right now to urge Congress and the Obama administration to make a complete withdrawal of the HHS right of refusal regulation. Click here to take action today. Thank you all for joining Compassion & Choices Action Network. To paraphrase our new President, we will get ourselves on our feet, dust ourselves off and begin to rebuild America. Compassion & Choices looks forward to your continued involvement. Sincerely,
Montana's First Judicial Court on Dec. 6, 2008, issued a landmark decision in favor of the plaintiffs in Baxter v. Montana. The same judge on Jan. 7 denied a request by the State of Montana for a stay of the December decision. This case, brought by a terminally ill Montana man, four Montana physicians and Compassion & Choices, gives terminally ill state residents the right to die on their own terms. Judge Dorothy McCarter held that mentally competent, terminally ill Montanans have a right to a dignified death protected by the Montana Constitution's guarantees of privacy and individual dignity. Accordingly, plaintiff Robert Baxter would have had the right to obtain and self-administer medications to bring about a peaceful death if he found his suffering intolerable. In a solemn coincidence, however, he passed away the day of the ruling without learning of the court's affirmation of his right to die with dignity. The judge's decision allows physicians in Montana to write prescriptions for their mentally competent terminally ill patients who want to control the time and manner of their deaths without the fear of criminal prosecution. Compassion & Choices Legal Director Kathryn Tucker, lead counsel in the two federal cases asserting a right of this nature under the U.S. Constitution, teamed with Montana litigator Mark Connell in arguing for Bob Baxter and the physicians. "This ruling is consistent with a long line of cases recognizing that Montana's Constitution protects the decision-making power of its citizens in the most intimate and personal areas of their lives," said Tucker. Barbara Coombs Lee, Compassion & Choices President, noted, "Montana now becomes the third state in which aid in dying is affirmatively legal. Oregon has had its Death with Dignity Act in effect for more than a decade; Washington voters approved a similar law in the November election. Momentum is building for aid in dying."
Compassionandchoices.org is your opportunity to get involved with Compassion & Choices. Visit the site today to learn what you can do to improve care and expand choice at the end of life. Our new site features four categories: Learn, Give, Act and Care. Each section leads readers to informative and helpful pages on the aid-in-dying movement, volunteer opportunities, community events, end-of-life care resources and secure online options for supporting Compassion & Choices. The most recent headlines from the aid-in-dying movement are at your fingertips. You can also view video clips and hear client stories to get a rare glimpse of their experiences. With just a few clicks, you'll also find information about our advocacy efforts around the nation, including our landmark legal and legislative initiatives. Visit the new site today at www.compassionandchoices.org.
Download "On the Road to Human Liberty: Annual Report 2008" here (PDF).
New HHS "Conscience" Rule Jeopardizes End-of-Life Pain Care The administration, hurrying to cement its social agenda in place before leaving town, adopted a most meddlesome, dangerous rule at Health and Human Services. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-coombs-lee/new-hhs-conscience-rule-j_b_155934.html The Dying of the Light What an End-of-Life Adviser Could Have Told Me On His Own Terms Montana Court Affirms Right to Die for Patients Sensationalizing a Sad Case Cheats the Public of Sound Debate 'Life-Saving' Treatments Not Always the Right Choice |
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 Copyright Compassion & Choices 2008 |
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Compassion & Choices welcomes the more than 4,500 new Action Network subscribers who signed up in January. We received tremendous response from the "New HHS 'conscience' rule jeopardizes end-of-life pain care" blog posted in early January. 
Each December we end the year with an "Annual Report" edition of Compassion Choices Magazine. This year we felt a "road trip" theme best symbolized the past 12 months: adventures aplenty with advances and developments at every turn. Like road signs confirming our direction, indicators of tangible, meaningful progress and dignity appear as we travel on. We reached many milestones this year, and thousands of people accompanied us on our journey. We share our accomplishments in this magazine. We hope you enjoy the ride!