{"id":107728,"date":"2015-12-10T20:18:33","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T03:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lawmakers-and-possibly-voters-to-consider-end-of-life-legislation-2\/"},"modified":"2015-12-10T20:18:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T03:18:33","slug":"colorado-lawmakers-and-possibly-voters-to-consider-end-of-life-legislation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-lawmakers-and-possibly-voters-to-consider-end-of-life-legislation-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado lawmakers and possibly voters to consider end-of-life legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Roland
Roland Halpern, from the national organization Compassion and Choices, discusses the history of right-to-die efforts as part of Fort Lewis College\u2019s Life-Long Learning Series earlier this year at Noble Hall.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

DENVER \u2013 State lawmakers are planning another attempt at allowing terminally ill people to request life-ending medication, even as a group of Coloradans readies a ballot effort.<\/p>\n

The emotionally charged subject had a short life at the Colorado Legislature last session. After an 11-hour hearing, a House committee defeated legislation. The bill never saw broader floor debates.<\/p>\n

It was referred to as \u201cdeath with dignity.\u201d But sponsors are moving away from that messaging for the upcoming session in January, instead framing the proposal as being about \u201cend-of-life options.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is the same as it was last year,\u201d said Rep. Lois Court, D-Denver, who sponsored last session\u2019s legislation and is carrying the measure again. \u201cOur goal is to provide comfort, both physical and psychological, to people at this stage of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The basics of the legislation would be the same, including requiring that the life-ending drugs be self-administered. Patients would need to be able to communicate health care decisions to two separate physicians.<\/p>\n

The debate, however, has been mired in legal, ethical and religious concerns.<\/p>\n

Some wondered whether depression could lead to a hasty request for life-ending medication. Others worried insurance companies would use the law to push terminal patients toward life-ending medication, rather than incur the costs of treatment.<\/p>\n

From the religious perspective, faith leaders stated that life is a sacred gift.<\/p>\n

Sponsors hope to at least address policy issues that weighed the legislation down.<\/p>\n

Questions were raised as to where and how medication would be stored, so life-ending cocktails don\u2019t end up in the wrong hands. Court said the bill for the upcoming session would more specifically address safe storage and patient responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Compassion and Choices, a Denver-based nonprofit committed to helping \u201ceveryone have the best death possible,\u201d held statewide meetings on the issue, including one in Durango on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some Coloradans are pushing forward with a ballot proposal that would also enact end-of-life choices.<\/p>\n

The proposal \u2013 which is scheduled for a review and comment hearing on Dec. 8 before proponents can collect the 98,492 signatures needed to qualify for the 2016 ballot \u2013 goes a step further by declaring that \u201cany person or group assisting a (Colorado resident) to secure Medical Aid In Dying shall have immunity from criminal prosecution and civil liability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lance Wright, a Denver resident pushing the initiative, said the proposal offers an alternative, adding: \u201cThe way we look at it, it\u2019s a Plan B.\u201d<\/p>\n

pmarcus@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

to advance bill this year; voters may have their chance in 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5843],"tags":[94,255,13],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-107728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living","tag-colorado-state-government","tag-death-and-dying","tag-frontpage-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107728"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=107728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}