Conn. woman 1st non-Vermonter granted assisted suicide right

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Lynda Bluestein has terminal cancer and knows she’ll likely die soon, but until Tuesday, she didn’t know if she’d be able to choose how or when and whether her family, friends and dog would be with her when the time comes. Bluestein’s settlement and pending legislation that would remove Vermont’s residency requirement offer a ray of hope to other terminally ill patients who want to control how and when they die but might not be able to cross the country to do so. Barnard, who specializes in hospice and palliative care and who has patients from neighboring New York state, which, like Connecticut, doesn’t allow medically assisted suicide, lauded the settlement and called on the Vermont Legislature to repeal the residency requirement. There is no good reason that non-residents should not be able to use Vermont’s medical aid-in-dying law that has eased the suffering of numerous terminally ill Vermonters since it took effect a decade ago,” Barnard said in a news release issued by Compassion & Choices, which filed the suit on behalf of Bluestein and Barnard and describes itself as a group that “expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey.” The Vermont attorney general’s office said it was pleased to have reached an agreement. Among them is Mary Hahn Beerworth, executive director of the Vermont Right to Life Committee, who said the practice “was, and remains, a matter of contention.” “To be clear, Vermont Right to Life opposed the underlying concept behind assisted suicide and opposes the move to remove the residency requirement as there are still no safeguards that protect vulnerable patients from coercion,” Beerworth testified before a Vermont legislative committee.