Vermont passes law allowing doctor-assisted suicide

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

By Jason McLure
Mon May 20, 2013 3:14pm EDT

(Reuters) - Vermont on Monday became the fourth U.S. state to end legal penalties for doctors who prescribe medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their own lives.

The law, which includes a number of safeguards over the next three years as the state adapts, marked the first time a U.S. state has used the legislative process to make assisted suicide legal. Oregon and Washington have similar laws passed through ballot measures and a Montana court authorized the practice in 2009.

"Vermonters who face terminal illness and are in excruciating pain at the end of their lives now have control over their destinies. This is the right thing to do," said Governor Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, who signed the law on Monday.

Supporters of the practice are hoping Vermont's law will lend momentum in other states, such as Connecticut and New Jersey, that have considered similar legislation. A bill legalizing the practice failed in Massachusetts last year.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/us-usa-vermont-assistedsuicide-idUSBRE94J0QC20130520

[aikoaiko]

1. I wish I could find a job in VT. It is wonderful.

[SoapBox]

2. Bravo!

...I want it to be MY decision, not some insurance company or PukeBagger.

[Warpy]

3. That is a humane law. I wish it were universal.

My experience was typical, I think. My mother wasn't in pain but she was deaf, blind, fighting for every breath from COPD, and utterly miserable. My dad finally wheedled a prescription for sleeping pills, filled it twice without taking any, and left the bottle next to her.

She never used them, but I did notice her mood had lifted considerably once they were there (and I didn't know it at the time).

After she died, my dad fessed up. All I could do was thank him because I know that bottle gave her a great deal of peace since she knew a quick way out was right there if it got too hard.

[Auntie Bush]

4. Yeah! Now Vermonters no longer have to worry about dying in pain in the future.

Trouble is...I think this law is only good for 3 years...then the results/outcome will be analyzed and there is no guarantee it will be renewed in the future. Bummer...I'm not planning on using it within the nest three years...but someday...........well, we all should have that option.

[hrmjustin]

5. It is the right thing to do.

I took care of a friend of mine who had brain cancer and for 6 months he could not walk or change himself. I am glad they put in this law.

[Maineman]

6. I wonder when humans will be treated at least as well as animals who are terminally ill.

[BrotherIvan]

7. Letting people die on their own terms with dignity

Isn't that the very definition of freedom? And isn't it more compassionate to have a doctor prescribe the least painful way to accomplish it instead of adding stress or perhaps jail time for loved ones who want nothing more than to stop the excruciating suffering? Thank you, Vermont.

[SCVDem]

8. Why just the terminally ill?

What if I'm homeless, cold, hungry, have no meds and no family?

Must I make a bloody mess for someone to get traumatized over?

What is the problem here? It is my life after all!

[Bibliovore]

9. The theory is that "The System" catches such cases.

Of course, it far from always does. But ideally, people in such circumstances should be able to get a place to stay, food, medical treatment, support, and either vocational training to get a job and build their own life or disability pay as applicable. Being homeless, cold, hungry, and having no meds is a route to depression, which is in most cases a treatable illness that nobody should have to die from. There SHOULD be hope in such circumstances; however, for the terminally ill, after a certain point the only hope is to die without too much additional trauma.