Barbara Coombs Lee is President of Compassion & Choices, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to expanding and protecting the rights
of the terminally ill. She practiced as a nurse and physician assistant
for 25 years before beginning a career in law and health policy. Since
then she has devoted her professional life to individual choice and
empowerment in health care. As a private attorney, as counsel to the
Oregon State Senate, as a managed care executive and finally as
Chief Petitioner for Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, she has
championed initiatives that enable individuals to consider a full
range of choices and be full participants in their health care decisions.