Humanities Montana Awards Grant for End of Life Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

HELENA, MT — Humanities Montana recently awarded the ACLU of Montana a grant of more than $7,300 for an April 10 conference at Carroll College on “End of Life Choices: A Community Conversation.”

The conference will be a community discussion about the important issue of physician assistance at the end of life. It will feature both proponents and opponents of aid in dying, including representatives from the legal, civil liberties, faith, medical and disability rights communities as well as patients and families.

“The Board of Humanities Montana recognizes that end-of-life issues are crucial for all Montanans. The proposed conference is admirably balanced to allow many different perspectives on these difficult issues. And so the conference provides an opportunity for Montanans to come together to reflect on matters that will be front and center in their lives, both personally and politically,” said Humanities Montana Executive Director Ken Egan.

Keynote speaker Ann Jackson is the former executive director of the Oregon Hospice Association, and has seen physician aid in dying implemented in that state, and the impacts it has had on terminally ill patients. Ann will discuss both the pros and cons of the practice in Oregon.

“We are excited that Humanities Montana has endorsed our efforts to discuss this unsettling and often difficult topic in a civil manner in a civic setting,” said Scott Crichton, ACLU’s Executive Director. “We see this conference as being in the spirit of Jeffersonian democracy, assuming that a free exchange of opinion and fact will help lead to informed and enlightened public policy around end of life decision making.”

Humanities Montana is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the humanities, their insights and values, to the people of Montana, Since 1972, Humanities Montana’s grants and services have supported thousands of public conferences, lectures, workshops and exhibits, a statewide speakers bureau, radio and video productions, and a variety of publications.

Conference cost is $25, including lunch. Scholarships are available. To learn more and register: www.aclumontana.org