Michael's One Small Step: New Hampshire "Right to Try"

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:01]I don't have much time to dedicate [music] to anything outside of trying to to stay alive.

[00:00:07]The the cancer I got is pretty lethal and it's pretty [music] rare.

[00:00:11]Cancer that's got a 5% survival at 5 years.

[00:00:16]This is year three for me.

[00:00:18]I knew [music] I had two choices.

[00:00:20]Retreat or use my time I have left to help others.

[00:00:24]I teamed up with Americans [music] for Prosperity to pass a law that will save lives.

[00:00:34]My name is Michael Yakubovich. I live in Hooksett, New Hampshire with my wife and my son. The passion of my life the last >> [music] >> decade or two of it was freedom. So in New Hampshire I was looking to join the Liberty community and become active in promoting freedom.

[00:00:49]And AFP [music] conducted training courses for people that want that were new to [music] activism and that's how I got connected.

[00:00:57]>> My name is Sarah Scott and I'm the Deputy State Director for Americans for Prosperity here in New Hampshire.

[00:01:01]Americans for Prosperity is a grassroots advocacy [music] organization. So we fight for liberty here in New Hampshire.

[00:01:06]We help people get involved and teach them [music] how to be more effective.

[00:01:10]When I first met Michael, I was really inspired by the stories that he would tell [music] us of his upbringing under communism. He really understands where we could end up if we don't get involved and make a change.

[00:01:21]>> Throughout the years the relationship [music] with them, you know, we became great friends and sometimes I feel I bother them too much with the crazy ideas [music] I have I have about liberty but they never say no.

[00:01:31]>> He became one of our most consistent volunteers and I knew he was ready to take that next [music] step and run for office.

[00:01:36]>> I needed all the help I could get from people like AFP. They helped me get out there and explain what it is I'm doing, explain my passion for freedom.

[00:01:45]>> [music] >> That's what got me elected.

[00:01:48]I was working hard to to achieve results [music] in political office and everything was happening for me up until the point where I got diagnosed with cancer. [music] And then the world fell apart. Everything changed.

[00:02:13]Everything in life changes when >> [music] >> a news like that comes.

[00:02:19]It does not affect one person. It affects the whole [music] family.

[00:02:23]Everybody.

[00:02:24]It's a curse [music] for the whole family.

[00:02:27]For me as a freedom-loving person, I would say I lost a lot of my freedom. I was not locked up. I was not in jail, but [music] there were things I couldn't do.

[00:02:37]I had to step away from the office.

[00:02:40]All throughout it was every side effect you can [music] think of. All All the things that come with chemo. Nurses would put on hazmat [music] suits when they would administer it because it's it's neurotoxins that they inject into me.

[00:02:52]>> Michael really gave [music] us a first-hand look at the regulatory hurdles that patients face. Hearing [music] him talk about all of the different states he had to travel to just to find out if there's a a chance [music] at another treatment.

[00:03:04]>> So, that's where the right to try bill comes in. So, this would allow me as a patient uh to sign a waiver saying that [music] yes, I trust my doctor to try this new thing for me.

[00:03:14]Yeah, because I have no other options left. So, it will be something for me to [music] try or just die without anything.

[00:03:24]>> Right to try is just giving [music] people the freedom to try experimental medications when they're facing a terminal diagnosis.

[00:03:32]>> Right to try is so important to make sure that people have [music] access to the right care for themselves.

[00:03:36]>> For people who want to fight with an unapproved medication to try and live longer or have better [music] days with their family while they're still alive, we can't have the government standing in the way.

[00:03:48]>> On this right to try bill, I knew I had two choices.

[00:03:51]>> [music] >> Retreat or use my time I have left to help others.

[00:03:55]>> When he jumped into this fight with both feet, I was stunned. Here's a guy facing the fight of his life, and I think most people in that situation would have put down [music] the tools, focused on themselves, but he still gets back into the arena. He takes time out of what [music] may not be that much time left, and he donates it to advance this cause.

[00:04:17]That level of determination, I think, is beyond unusual. [music] It's unheard of.

[00:04:22]>> It was important for me to come in and work for that bill, to know that I'm not out of the fight, that I'm not down yet, I'm not broken yet, not fully.

[00:04:32]>> I I can't imagine it. I I don't know that I would have the strength to be coming up and testifying on bills when I was literally fighting for my life, >> [music] >> but he does that, and he does it consistently. He's a fighter against his cancer. He's a fighter to be with his family, and [music] he's always been a fighter for the people of New Hampshire in the legislature.

[00:04:49]>> There were a lot of other patients [music] and families that really relied on Michael to share their stories also, relied on Michael to take that [music] step for them, and to convey what families that are facing a terminal diagnosis are going through.

[00:05:03]>> Every little step >> [music] >> takes effort. Every little step takes energy.

[00:05:07]Apparently, I've bugged >> [music] >> the senators long enough that one of them actually did suggested to name the bill after me. And I said, "Yes, it's an [music] honor, but it's most important is that uh the bill passes, that the bill is written, that the bill is applicable to anybody who needs it."

[00:05:22]>> I talked to a lot of other legislators, [music] and they were even more motivated to pass that legislation with it having Michael's name on it.

[00:05:30]>> An expansion of patients' rights is now law in New Hampshire.

[00:05:34]>> Without Michael's one [music] small step, we would not have been able to expand right to try in New Hampshire.

[00:05:39]When you talk about the importance [music] of legislation, really connecting it to that person that's going to be able to say, "That's the a of life and death for them. Makes this a much more impactful win.

[00:05:49]>> It'll bring innovative technologies, medicines, [music] doctors to New Hampshire because this is the place to try things.

[00:05:55]>> I don't think this bill would have had a chance of passage without AFP's help intervention. [music] I think Mike and AFP together is a dangerous combination. They can do anything.

[00:06:05]>> Knowing that I helped pass [music] the bill makes me proud because expanding human freedom is really my passion. But this this is not just freedom. This [music] may mean life to people.