Vermont Legislature Approaches 'Death with Dignity' Issue

Author: Greg Duggan

Last month, two bills were introduced into the Vermont House of Representatives: one seeking to allow doctor-assisted suicide, the other to make the practice illegal. Oregon legalized euthanasia in 1997 with the passage of the so-called Death With Dignity law, the only state to do so.
State Rep. Malcolm Severance (R-Colchester) introduced the Vermont Death with Dignity Bill (H.318) after members of the Death with Dignity Vermont organization approached him seeking support. State Sen. Virginia Lyons (D-Chittenden) has introduced a companion bill. The House bill "proposes to allow a mentally competent patient who is expected to die within six months to end his or her life in a humane and dignified manner by prescription medication."
With some of the strongest health care programs in the country, some Vermonters have deemed the Death with Dignity Bill unnecessary. The state offers strong palliative and hospice care in all communities. Speaking in support of her bill proposing to criminalize euthanasia (H.275), State Rep. Nancy Sheltra (R-Derby) told The Middlebury Campus that Medicare rates Vermont second in the nation in terms of care provided to elderly citizens.
"We're doing a good job here," Sheltra said.
Explaining her motivations for introducing her Causing or Assisting Suicide Bill (H.275), Sheltra explained, "I wanted to introduce the legislation to offset some of the thought process that's started in our state."
Presently, when a patient has no chance of recovery, that person can refuse any form of treatment. Physicians can then sedate the person until he or she becomes unconscious and eventually dies from dehydration.
The Death with Dignity Bill argues for the patient's right to end his or her own life humanely, as opposed to lying unconscious for days. Several safeguards exist in the bill. A patient would need a diagnosis from two independent physicians confirming the person to have less than six months to live. The physicians and, if necessary, a psychiatrist would also need to determine the patient to be in a sound mental state. The patient would then need to make two oral requests as well as a written request for the medication. Once the patient had the medication, he or she would still have the option not to take it.
Severance supported the Death with Dignity bill by saying, "I thought it was time for Vermont to think about this issue again, and the only way to get to think about it is to precipitate it in some way."
A similar bill was introduced in 1996, but never made it through state legislature.
Thirty-eight Representatives signed onto the bill as sponsors, demonstrating, as Severance called it, "a core of people in the House that are interested in seeing the bill discussed." On the other hand, he acknowledged, "there is also a core of people that are very much opposed to it." Including Sheltra, 10 Representatives signed onto Bill H.275, to counteract the Death with Dignity Bill.
The issue has raised debate across the state. Seventeen physicians formed the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare. The group argues that the Death with Dignity Bill disregards the notion of the physician as a healer, and points to Vermont's outstanding healthcare policies as reasons to oppose euthanasia.
Sheltra argued her point with the example of the Netherlands, which allows euthanasia, by saying, "people over there have been euthanized that haven't wanted to be euthanized." She elaborated on her own views by saying, "I do not think that [assisted suicide] is a choice that needs to be put out there for individuals. There are tremendous ways of getting rid of pain today...the medications are available."
Severance expressed his own views by saying, "There comes a time in one's life when checking out is preferable. I think that it's unfortunate that a person in the last days of life doesn't have a choice."
The Death with Dignity Vermont Web site states, "whether or not terminal medication is actually taken by an individual, the fact that he/she has control of his/her life is the comfort that is now lacking." The Web site also notes that in Oregon "most of those who requested a prescription to die with dignity did not avail themselves of the law, but they found comfort in knowing they had the option."
Conducting a poll of the roughly 1,600 physicians in the state, the Vermont Death with Dignity Group found that most of the 20 percent of those who replied supported bill H.318.
Despite the debate surrounding the two bills, it is unlikely that either will reach the floor in this session of legislature. Severance explained that "the Health and Welfare Committee has a number of other issues before them that they think are far more important" than the Death with Dignity Bill, and does not expect the committee to address the bill this session. Sheltra expressed a similar view, saying, "I don't believe that the bill is going to come out of [the] committee -- I've talked to the chairman and other members of the committee that do not support it, and it seems that the majority of the committee members do not support the legislation at this time." She did stress the importance of the debate, saying, "I think that it's very important for people to stay on top of this issue." Severance said, "the real question is where it will be on people's priority next January when we get back for the second half of the legislative session."