S.77 (Now Act 39) became law in 2013. This law was introduced as “An act relating to patient choice and control at end of life.” When initially passed there were numerous safeguards in place for this new practice of physician assisted suicide. H.190, introduced and passed into law in 2023, is just one more slide down the “slippery slope” of removing safeguard after safeguard after safeguard from the initial bill.
This year H.190 was successful in removing the requirement of being a Vermont resident in order to access assisted suicide in our state. Now residents from across the nation, if not worldwide, can come to Vermont, regardless if assisted suicide is legal in their home state or not, as long as all steps in the process are handled in Vermont.
The arrogance of the super-majority in the Vermont State House was on full display in the 2023 legislative session as we saw them show complete disregard to laws in the other 49 states. Instead, as with H.89 and S.37, Vermont legislators created laws that not only harm our residents, but can now reach across state boundaries, with no regard to what laws in the other states may say.
