 This is State Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. I'm Marsha Joyner and we are navigating the journey. Navigating the journey is dedicated to exploring the options and choices for the end of life care and to assist people to talk about their wishes. It's time to transform our cultures so we shift from not talking about dying to talking about it. It's time to share the way we want to live our lives at the end of our lives and it's time to communicate about the kind of care we want and don't want for ourselves. We believe that the place for this to begin is not in the intensive care unit but together we can explore the various paths to life's ending. Together we can make these difficult conversations easier and together we can make sure that our own wishes and those of our loved ones are expressed and respected. If you're ready to join, we ask, navigate the journey. And as you know, for those of you that have been with us for the last 63 weeks, we have been working on the bill, Medical Aid and Dying, for more than 20 years. And at last, at last, the House of Representatives passed the bill and now with the whole floor and now it goes over to the Senate. There were nine Democrats that voted against it and two Republicans that voted for it, which was amazing and surprising. So today we are going to talk about the bill. We are going to talk about what it is and what it isn't. And we're going to talk with Scott Foster and all of you know that Scott's been with us for 20 years. And Scott is from the Hawaii Death with Dignity Society. So Scott, let's talk about it. And as you know, all of you know that the yellow lay was the choice for everyone that was supporting us. And so for those of you that have supported us and have been with us all this time, here are the lay for you. So Scott, tell us, tell us all about the bill, what it is, what it isn't, where we're going, where we've been. Well, we of course didn't know yesterday what we would be talking about today. And it was first of all a rather amazing hearing. The supportive legislators told personal stories. There were some tears shed on the floor. And if we've accomplished nothing else in the last 20 years, I think that we have enabled the dialogue and the conversation. That is what we set out to do. People are talking now. And I don't know what the average person thinks looking at us. Talking about death is not our entire life. Well, it is during the legislature. But we have been working on this issue because we saw the need many years ago. And now we're at the age that it's real. So it was maybe just philosophical 20 years ago, but now I want this choice. And we're at least within stone throw of achieving it. Now with that said, before we get into the bill itself, our supporters need to know. We think we have the votes in the Senate. We don't know for sure. And I'm going to read from you. But we think we have, based on past experience, as you may remember, the Senate passed in 2017 with the full Senate except for three votes. Right. So we are assuming, and you know, assume makes what out of you and me. Yeah, okay. Yeah, but we're assuming that they will do that again. At least we hope. With that said, you and I both worked on marriage equality as well. And we know what the right-wing Christian fundamentalist churches are able to do in terms of turning out people and intimidating elected officials. We got three slides that we're going to put up. And these slides were from, I think 2009 through 2012 somewhere in there. And these were the Christians, Christian fundamentalist people in red shirts, down at the Hawaii State Capitol against marriage equality. This was written, this quote was in the paper yesterday in Civil Beats Excellent article. The president of the Hawaii Family Forum, a faith-based group opposed to medical and dying, said the group plans to fight against it when it moves through the Senate. Quote, we will be here until the fat lady sings, and we do not believe she's even warming up yet, Andrade said. So we've got to turn out more people for the Senate hearings. Yes. And we will have more yellow lays. But all these people in red shirts are the well-intentioned right-wing Christian fundamentalists funded mainly by the Catholic Church. And when the Bishop of all Hawaii tells his flock from the pulpit the Sunday before these hearings, they will turn out and they will have buses there to bring people. So we only had 14 people turn out yesterday, and I want to admonish everyone that supports this bill. Now we're in a little disadvantage because many of our supporters are older, simply can't get out. Yes. And that was such an early time. And to be able to take the time, because it started at nine o'clock and it was almost one when they finished. So to be able to people to take that time from work, from whatever they're doing. Yes. Yeah. But nonetheless, if you're not on our email list, please go to the Hawaii death with dignity society web page and opt in. We're sending notices about the hearings. We're giving all the information we can give. We're going to need phone calls. We're going to need personal visits to your own legislator and as well as leadership in the Senate. And again, this is not a negative thing we're trying to do. We want to encourage them to stay the course and let's get this bill passed for after over 20 years. Now, I want to say that the president of the Senate is on our side and he has been on this issue for a long time. So I think that in itself, Carl Rhodes was the original initiator in the Senate last year. We have a lot of really good support in the Senate. So I think, I think, but we don't know. Well, I do too. But after 20 years, we cannot rest on our laurels. No, we can't depend on yesterday. Yesterday is over. Now, one of the heroes, in fact, maybe the hero. There were several. Senator John Mazzuno was masterful in the way he... Representative. Representative John Mazzuno was masterful in the way that he orchestrated this. And Representative Mazzuno was chair of Health and Human Services. And Representative Della Bellotti was extraordinary. And we got to recognize them. And there were many heroes involved in this, but those are the two. And certainly Representative Scott Psyche, who is the leadership of the House. So mahalo to all of you good folks. It was one of Hawaii's legislators' finer moments. I think so. And I have been there for many, many issues over the years. And that, the transparency, the openness, the willingness of the other representatives to stand up and tell their stories. Now I must admit, a lot of those that stood up to tell their stories were guests on our show. So they had already worked through telling the story. And the young man from the Windward side, he had told his story here. And then he said on the floor that he had talked to his family, whether he could tell the story or not. The humanists, I guess is where I'm going with that. Even those that were opposed, there was a humanist in what they said. And even the opposition, people of faith who I greatly respect. And that group yesterday was more than, they showed aloha. They really were. Yeah, they had bentos and they offered those of us with the yellow lei. They offered us the bentos. There was no angst, no nastiness, everybody on both sides. It was one of those moments in time. And the openness, like I said, the transparency that every legislator, that's why we were there for so long. Every legislator got to say their feelings. There was no booing and hissing and no cheering and what have you. It was, if only, if only all of our legislation could move like that. We might have some really good legislation come out of that. You took the words out of my mouth. As you were saying that, I was thinking the very same thing. Of course money involved in this, but there's not money involved like some of the development issues and the homeless issue where there are developers involved and heavy duty lobbyists giving money here just before an election. In fact, a lot of people stayed out of this issue who normally would weigh in on something. Simply because it was the hot button issue. I don't know what it'll be next year when this passes. I don't know if, when. When it passes, it'll be interesting to see. Maybe it'll be homelessness and that should rise. Oh, that should be. We need to take a break and we will come back. And then let's talk about what is in the bill and what it isn't. Okay, we'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii raising public awareness. I just walked by and I said, what's happening guys? They told me they were making music. Aloha, welcome to Hawaii. This is Prince Dykes, your host of The Prince of Investing coming to you guys each and every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Right here on Think Tech Hawaii. Don't forget to come by and check out some of the great information on stocks, investments, your money, all the other great stuff. And I'll be your host. See you Tuesday. And we're back. I'm Marcia and we are talking about medical aid and dying. And the bill that was before the legislature for the last 20 years. Off and on. Yes, I would ask God if we can talk about what the bill is and what it isn't. Can we do that? We can. I was just looking at the excellent Civil Beat article from yesterday that's up today. I encourage our viewers to take a look at that. The title of it is, what was it? Death with Ignity, Something. Well, I mixed my papers up. Okay. Let me tell you about that article. Naturally. You know, I have testified before the legislature, the city council, the U.S. Congress over the years. And I had come to the conclusion that people, they say thank you and they move on. This hearing last week had 15 to 16,000 written testimony. There was five hours of testifying and two minutes. We got to talk. Two minutes. So, I took my two minutes and I commented about the fact that I had stood up to an angry mob when I was 15 and how many years I have been out fighting for civil rights and human rights. And thank you and sat down. Two minutes gone. When I saw the headline in Civil Beat that says John Mizuno says this is a civil right, I screamed. Somebody listened. Somebody really listened to the testimony. And it was clear in John's notes that he had listened to the testimony. He had paid attention to the people that testified. What can I say? Okay, let's talk about the bill. The title of this Civil Beat article is Hawaii House Passes Medical Aid in Dying Bill. There were some amendments during last... What is the bill? What is the bill? What does it do? It allows a terminally ill person with six months or less to live diagnosis to obtain a prescription for a medicine that will end their life. The only analogy I can make for anyone that's ever held their little pet in their arms and had them put to sleep, you just go to sleep. And it's pain-free and it allows a person, their choice, to end their life at a designated time and place with or without their family and friends around whatever they choose in those last hours before they take the drug. That's what the bill is. And let's do some more before we go to what it isn't. It says that you have to have two medical doctors or caregivers or whatever they're called. Well, you're going to talk about the safeguards. So you have to have two of these people to certify that you are of sound mind and all of these things and that you have the right to choose. You have the ability to ingest the medication. You are not being coerced by your family or anyone in your will to do this. And it is as straightforward as it can be in terms of allowing people to choose that time and place to end. Now, that's as fast as I can get through what it is. Now, let's do what it isn't. The dialogue during and after the House hearing last week, or 10 days ago now, I guess it was, made a number of amendments. And Representative Bellotti read all those amendments on the floor of the House yesterday. And we'd known because we heard them during testimony. Representative Mazzuno later said and was quoted in the media that this is probably has the most safeguards of any bill that's been heard in the nation and certainly of the five states that have passed it. That's a double edged sword in that there are more hoops to jump through. And that's fine. We've got the bill. We can look at it moving forward and hopefully make some tweaks to it later on. Must be a Hawaii resident. And there are some specific things about that you've got that can be established with Hawaii driver's license, for example. I know that the legislature does not want to make Hawaii a vacation place to come die. And that's understandable. But people could come here, the snowbirds, for example, who are aging and have homes here. That might give them a reason to come back to Hawaii and be a resident in their homes that are maybe only occupied part of the time. So it must be a state resident, prognosis of six months or less to live, diagnosis of a terminal illness, mentally capable of deciding. And there's some very strict interviews that have to take place with psychiatrists. Confirmation by two health care providers of the diagnosis, prognosis, medical competence, and voluntariness. I didn't know that was a word, but voluntariness of the patient's request. Now, two oral requests by the patient separated by 20 days. One written request witnessed by two people, one not related to the patient. One counseling session with a qualified person and telehealth interview will be allowed, such as by phone or internet technologies. Patient must self-administer the lethal drug. Now, Kim, stop right there. Because it says that the patient must do this. Now, a lot of people said, well, if you have ALS or something and you can't do this. According to an old, old Hawaii law, if the doctor or anyone helps you, they can be charged with manslaughter. So that is to protect the medical provider. Yes. So just now you can keep going. Obviously, based on the history we've seen in the other states, that does keep a lot of people who do not have bodily function from doing it. Now, whether or not it can be taken with a straw, whether it's a liquid, these are the things that are going to have to be worked out. But the reason that is there is because this old, old statute that Hawaii has is manslaughter and we don't want the doctors and the nurses and the family to be charged with manslaughter. My worry, which you and I have discussed, is how this will operate in the rural areas and where getting two doctors is going to be very difficult. Well, but go back. Read it. Does it say two, what? Let's see. Confirmation by two health care providers. All right. Now, rural Hawaii, rural health is horrible. If we could get this much into making rural health better, anyway, that's next year. It doesn't say two doctors. It says two health care providers. So many people in rural Hawaii have APRNs because that's all. Advanced practice registered nurses, APRNs. That is all that's available. And most of these advanced practice RNs have PhDs. They're well-versed. They have their own businesses. And they are the primary care person. So that is important that you have your primary care physician that has, let's assume you have cancer. They've been with you every step of the way. They know what you're suffering. They know what you're going through. So it is important that we look at, this bill is for the whole state of Hawaii, not just urban Honolulu. Right. So those are the important aspects. Keep going. Well, the bill originally allowed advanced practice nurses to be one of the providers. And the providers are defined in the bill. And they specifically have removed the advanced practice nurses. But again, once this bill is passed, we see how it works. The deficiencies in it can be addressed at a later point. And I think the advanced practice nurses is one. Because of the rural health situation. It is. And the fact that the representative that insisted on taking it out is from urban Honolulu, from Wickey to be exact, where we've got every kind of medical care available has no concept of what an APRN does. Well, I think that's another thing that you and I have come to better understand during this long term is the desperate need for improving rural health care. And if visitors, tourists, knew the risk they were taking, say going to the big island in rural Pune or volcano. Captain Cook. Captain Cook. Yeah. Or even the Honolulu Highway. If somebody has a stroke, it can take as long as two hours to get an ambulance to them. Can you imagine an ambulance going on the Honolulu Highway? Yeah. And of course there's a, and I've testified on behalf of the Kapuna Caucus of the Democratic Party trying to get just another ambulance on the big island and on Maui. And I don't know where those bills are now, but those will be following that. And I'm making my commitment to certainly the rural islands that we're going to stay on that because our health care system is in shambles, except for the Honolulu, right here. And that the legislature, Senate and House, are primarily staffed with Honolulu-centric legislators. Yes. They have no concept. Now, we have 33 legislators from the neighbor islands and why they don't come together to fight for better care is beyond me. Well, that's beginning to happen. They're communicating better. And there are a couple of senators that are leading the charge on that to create a hooey of neighbor island legislators that can agree on some of these basic things. You would think with the two doctors, the two doctors, medical doctors, that are in the legislature, both from the big island, you would think that they'd be leading the charge. Well, they are. They are. So time will tell. Okay. That's for another day. Well, again, thank you so much. We appreciate all of you've done with us for the last 63 weeks. And we'll see you next week. Aloha. Aloha.