X-Message-Number: 23522
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 18:37:37 -0800
From: Mathew Sullivan <>
Subject: Cooperation Not Confrontation Defines Future of Cryonics in Arizona 

Letter from Joe Waynick:


To All Alcor Members;

I am happy and proud to say that Alcor, its members, and the state of 
Arizona have won a great victory today!

Early Wednesday morning, Barry Aarons, Tanya Jones, and I met with 
Representative Stump and several of his advisors for nearly forty-five 
minutes to discuss HB 2637. We were very pleasantly surprised at the 
openness and flexibility demonstrated by Mr. Stump in our sometimes frank 
discussions. During that meeting, we were able to successfully communicate 
to him the sincere concerns we had with his bill as originally proposed and 
why our membership was so strongly opposed its passage.

It is our opinion that prior to this meeting, Mr. Stump sincerely did not 
understand the unintended negative consequences his bill would have on 
Alcor, its members, and on the science of cryopreservation as a whole.

After patiently listening to our concerns Mr. Stump expressed a willingness 
to modify several key provisions of the bill as a show of good faith to the 
constituents of this legislation in exchange for a commitment from us to 
continue dialogue for appropriate oversight of cryonics as practiced in the 
state of Arizona.

Since representation at the negotiation table is what we've been requesting 
from the day Alcor first became engaged in the legislative process, we were 
of course elated at the opportunity to sit with representatives of the 
legislature and their advisors in a spirit of cooperation and craft 
legislation that will provide the level of oversight legitimately required 
by the state while simultaneously securing protection for patient privacy, 
guaranteeing the constitutional right of self-determination of our members, 
and establishment once and for all the legislative legitimacy of cryonics.

At the conclusion of that meeting, Representative Stump demonstrated 
outstanding leadership and courage by agreeing in principle to consider 
amendments to his bill that would eliminate some of the most serious 
concerns of Alcor and its membership in a show of good faith. We were most 
impressed.

Today, literally an hour before the hearing was to begin, we received word 
that amendments had been filed and that Representative Stump was receptive 
to hearing the balance of our concerns that blocked agreement to a bill. 
After reviewing the amendments and exchanging negotiating points with 
Representative Stump that outlined some of our remaining issues we were 
able to secure the following understanding:

1.  Alcor's ability to utilize the UAGA was restored via amendment;

2.  The requirement for an embalmer to store our patients or participate in 
our procedures was struck from the bill via amendment;

3.  In addition, we committed to meet with all interested parties and seek 
agreement upon the following:

a.  Expand the Funeral Board by up to two members to include experts in the 
field of cryopreservation or change the composition of the existing board 
to include up to two experts in the field of cryopreservation;

b.  Require a cryopreservation expert on the staff of the Funeral Board to 
execute oversight;

c.  To establish the statutory legitimacy of cryonics through a legislated 
definition of cryopreservation;

d.  Define the scope of the oversight through legislation and not left 
singularly up to a rules committee;

e.  To extend the effective date of the bill to September 1, 2005 to leave 
open our option of legislative redress in the unlikely event that 
appropriate rules cannot be agreed upon between Alcor and the Funeral Board.

Due to the good faith agreements obtained prior to the committee hearing in 
conjunction with the proposed amendments, Alcor reduced its opposition to 
passage of HB 2637 on the condition that agreement can be reached on the 
verbal understandings listed above.

It should be noted that several members of the Health Committee expressed 
reservations about having Alcor overseen by the Funeral Board, but conceded 
that if legislation were necessary, it would be placed there but reserve 
the right to find a more appropriate place to house cryonics oversight in 
the future. Moreover, many of the committee members reserved the right to 
change their vote when the bill is presented on the House floor if 
agreements cannot be reached on the aforementioned items. Our heartfelt 
gratitude, respect and admiration go out to the courageous Representatives 
who agreed to support our cause.

After the hearing, I had the opportunity to have some very constructive 
dialogue with Randy Bunker and Rudy Thomas who both enthusiastically looked 
forward to engaging Alcor and finalizing the framework of the proposed 
oversight.

The progress of today's hearing would not have been possible without the 
tireless efforts of a number of good people, including Barry Aarons, David 
Brandt-Erichsen, Saul Kent, Tanya Jones, Aubrey de Grey, and Steve Rude. In 
addition, we must thank all the brave souls who traveled to Phoenix to 
testify but were unable to do so due to legislative time constraints 
including Steve Harris, Mark and Judy Muhlestein, Ted and Bobby Kraver, Jim 
Lewis, and two organ preservation scientists who wish to remain anonymous.

We must also thank those members who attended the hearing as a public show 
of support for Alcor. Lastly, but certainly not least, we must thank all of 
the members who took time away from their busy schedules to eMail, fax, and 
call Arizona state legislators, urging them to oppose this bill. When they 
revealed to us that they were receiving from 150-200 eMails per day we 
realized that you all really made a difference! Thank you!!!

Joe Waynick
CEO/President
Alcor Life Extension Foundation

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alcor Life Extension Foundation
7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916
Membership Information: (877) GO-ALCOR (462-5267)
Phone (480) 905-1906 FAX (480) 922-9027
 for general requests.

Visit our website at: http://www.alcor.org or to subscribe to our monthly 
newsletter go to: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/AlcorNews.

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation was founded in 1972 as a non-profit, 
tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and has 59 patients in cryostasis. Alcor 
is the world's largest provider of professional cryotransport services with 
over 660 members who have pre-arranged for cryopreservation. Alcor's 
Emergency CryoTransport System (ECS) is a medical-style rescue network 
patterned after Emergency Medical System (EMS). Alcor CryoTransport 
Technicians, as with EMTs and Paramedics on an ambulance, are advised by 
our Medical Director and Advisory Board consisting of MDs, PhDs, 
Cryobiologists, scientists, and other members of the scientific research 
community who are Alcor members and/or contract physicians.



Mathew Sullivan
Alcor Foundation 

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