So many people signed up to testify before the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee on the proposed Death with Dignity Act that yesterday’s hearing had to be moved to a larger room. Over the course of more than four hours, physicians, patients, and advocates shared the personal and professional experiences that inform their views on HB 1659.
Death with Dignity staff and the leaders of our grassroots partner organization, New Hampshire Death with Dignity testified in support of the bill at the state Capitol in Concord. Our motto and rallying cry is a tribute to the New Hampshire state motto: #LiveFreeDieFree.
From left: Death with Dignity’s Advocacy Director, Peter Korchnak, and State Leadership Incubator Manager, Val Lovelace; New Hampshire Death with Dignity co-founders and Steering Committee members Cheri Bach, Bob McCown, and Rebecca Brown.
We also live-tweeted the event, sharing excerpts and photos of powerful testimony. Below are highlights from the hearing.
#NH Rep. Sandler introducing HB1659, the #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity Act before the House Judiciary Committee. #aidindying pic.twitter.com/PfkzrcfNu2
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
#NH Rep. Catt Sandler, sponsor of #DeathwithDignity Act, steps up to the mic at NH House Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill. She emphasizes many safeguards in the bill, modeled on Oregon's first-in-the-nation #aidindying law. #LiveFreeDieFree
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
#NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity Act co-sponsor Matt Towne, an RN, speaks about his experience with patients "in intractable pain" and how powerless he felt to help them near the end of life. "Right now, we're not prolonging life, we're extending death." #LiveFreeDieFree
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Co-sponsor of HB1659, the #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity Act, #NH Rep. Towne, RN speaking in support of the bill. #aidindying pic.twitter.com/Vut6aErXub
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
81-year-old #Vermont resident who is moving to an assisted-living facility in #NewHampshire testifying in support of #NH #DeathwithDignity Act. Her terminally ill husband used #VT's #aidindying law to die peacefully. She wants the opportunity to #LiveFreeDieFree in NH.
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
We're at the #NewHampshire House Judiciary Committee hearing on HB1659. @DeathwDignity Advocacy Director Peter Korchnak just testified in support of the NH #DeathwithDignity Act. #LiveFreeDieFree pic.twitter.com/P83N1pdxY4
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
. @DeathwDignity’s Peter Korchnak: “#deathwithdignity laws are all about autonomy, offering a small number of adults who are terminally ill an additional voluntary medical option to control the timing and manner of their death.” #LiveFreeDieFree #aidindying
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Bob McCown, cofounder of #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity, speaking in support of HB 1659, an #aidindying bill, before the House Judiciary Committee. #LiveFreeDieFree pic.twitter.com/t4Rs5z5FND
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
#NewHampshire resident Bob McCown says #NH #DeathwDignity Act "gives the individual – not the government – freedom to make his or her choice" about how to die. "Doesn't that speak to the free-will spirit of New Hampshire? I decide." #LifeFreeDieFree #aidindying
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Cofounder and steering committee member of #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity testifies in support of HB1659, an #aidindying bill, before the House Judiciary Committee. "My hope is that, when my death is near, I have the comfort provided by this law." #LiveFreeDieFree pic.twitter.com/2hgwT50Swn
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Cheri Bach of Portsmouth, #NewHampshire says HB 1659, the #NH #DeathwithDignity Act will give terminally ill individuals a way to choose the time and manner of their death. "We should have freedom at the end of our lives," she says. #LiveFreeDieFree
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
.@MaineDwd executive director Valerie Lovelace testifying in support of HB 1659, the #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity Act. "Why must we fight so hard to die safely and peacefully on our own terms, according to our own values?" #aidindying #livefreediefree pic.twitter.com/GWGqZlxxrM
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
As a former home care manager and hospice volunteer, @DeathwDignity's Val Lovelace knows not every dying patient's needs can be met by hospice and palliative care. HB 1659 would give qualified terminally ill #NH residents an option to die w/ comfort and control. #LiveFreeDieFree
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
#NH resident Lindsay Goldstein testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in support of HB1659, the #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity Act. "We can heal the law to make it more humane." pic.twitter.com/vIdZcRbc3k
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
81-year-old #Vermont resident who is moving to an assisted-living facility in #NewHampshire testifying in support of #NH #DeathwithDignity Act. Her terminally ill husband used #VT's #aidindying law to die peacefully. She wants the opportunity to #LiveFreeDieFree in NH.
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
#NewHampshire physician speaks in support of NH #DeathwithDignity Act. He shares his experience working w/ cancer patients. "I understand the long road of suffering" of the terminally ill. He calls HB 1659 "a bill of kindness and compassion" for the dying. #LiveFreeDieFree
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Former #NewHampshire State Rep. Rebecca Brown is testifying in support of HB1659, #NH #DeathwithDignity Act. She advocates for #aidindying in honor of her husband, who died a painful death without an #endoflife option that would have eased his suffering. #LiveFreeDieFree
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Co-founder and Steering Committee member of #NewHampshire #DeathwithDignity, a grassroots group, testifies in support of HB 1659, an #aidindying bill, before the NH Judiciary Committee. pic.twitter.com/w7pueCEFpI
— Death with Dignity (@DeathwDignity) February 12, 2020
Read more:
- Full testimony of New Hampshire Death with Dignity leaders Cheri Bach, Rebecca Brown, and Bob McCown
- Full testimony of Death with Dignity Advocacy Director Peter Korchnak
- Full text of HB 1659, New Hampshire Death with Dignity Act
Team #LiveFreeDieFree meets up in Concord, New Hampshire to plan for a successful legislative session.
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