The Humanist Hour #121: George Eighmey on Death with Dignity

In this episode, Bo Bennett interviews George Eighmey, officer and spokesperson for the Death with Dignity National Center. The mission of the Center is to promote Death with Dignity laws based on their model legislation, the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, both to provide an option for dying individuals and to stimulate nationwide improvements in end-of-life care. George was an Oregon state legislator in 1997 when opponents to the Death with Dignity Act were working to dismantle the citizen's initiative passed in 1994, and he was instrumental in blocking this opposition. After the law was implemented, he took up a leadership role as the executive director of Compassion in Dying of Oregon which later became Compassion & Choices of Oregon. After twelve years helping terminally ill patients navigate Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, George retired in 2010.