[extropy-chat] Alcor Emergency

[Stephen J. Van Sickle]

Just got word that the House floor meeting starts at 1pm MST. There is
still time to get out those emails, faxes, and phone calls.



On Wed, 2004-03-10 at 19:51, Stephen J. Van Sickle wrote:
> http://alcor.org/legislativealert.html
> 
> 
> March 10, 5:40 PM
> 
> To All Alcor Members and Supporters: 
> 
> Up to this point, Alcor has negotiated in good faith with Representative
> Stump, attempting to draft legislation that would address his concerns
> for the protection of the citizens of Arizona as well as protect the
> rights of our members and patients. Mr. Stump has repeatedly delayed
> negotiations while working the legislature to gather votes to bring the
> bill to the house floor without our support. In open committee, Mr.
> Stump pledged to work with us to create statutory definitions for
> cryonics and to define the scope of oversight by the Funeral Board under
> a separate entity.
> 
> In good faith, we came together with the Arizona Funeral Board and
> reached agreement on the substance of the areas for which they oversight
> is required. Both Rudy Thomas and Randy Bunker attended our board
> meeting and confirmed that there were no substantial issues preventing
> us from executing an agreement without delay. 
> 
> In spite of our conciliatory actions and assumption of good intentions
> on the part of Representative Stump, he has decided to move forward with
> a House vote on his bill TOMORROW (Thursday) without allowing the
> affected parties to complete negotiations. Apparently, it doesn’t matter
> to him that the primary parties impacted by this legislation agree that
> passing new law is unnecessary when an administrative solution can
> easily be achieved. Nor does it seem to matter to him that his bill is
> also strongly opposed by other organ donation groups, including the
> local Science Care, the Organ Donation Network, Life Legacy, and others.
> Furthermore, the University of Arizona, Midwestern University, and other
> academic organizations will be negatively impacted by this hasty
> legislation.
> 
> I have instructed Barry Aarons to cease attempting to engage
> Representative Stump and to implore every member of the House to vote
> against this bill. At this time, we are asking all of our supporters to
> contact each Representative in the House and urge them to vote against
> this bill. Remember, it is not just members of the Health Committee who
> need to be contacted, but EVERY REPRESENTATIVE IN THE HOUSE! Important:
> please use the BCC: field for these mailings, so that each legislator
> feels more of a sense of personal contact. 
> 
> http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp?Body=H&SortBy=1
> 
> Once again, I have attached our talking points and a letter format for
> you to use. Please eMail, fax, and CALL each house member to urge them
> to VOTE NO ON HB 2637 (embalmers; funeral establishments; storing
> remains). Tell them your personal story and how this bill puts your life
> in jeopardy. TELL THEM THAT NEITHER ALCOR, THE FUNERAL BOARD, OR THE
> ORGAN DONATION NETWORK WANTS THIS BILL TO PASS!!! We believe the vote is
> tomorrow, Thursday, March 11th. You must act immediately if you are to
> have an impact.
> 
> Alcor tried to do the right thing. We accepted Representative Stump’s
> word that he wished to work out a solution. It was he who did not act in
> good faith, not Alcor. Your support is urgently needed to stop HB 2637
> before it passes to the Senate and we have to begin negotiating anew.
> It’s time to show him that we mean business!
> 
> Joseph Waynick
> CEO/President 
> Alcor Life Extension Foundation
> 
> 
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