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From the Brattleboro Reformer
By RICHARD DAVIS
Wednesday April 18, 2012

The Vermont death with dignity/doctor assisted suicide bill has been in the news recently. The Legislature has made a few efforts at having discussions about related issues but they have not been able to vote on legislation. I think that may be a good thing.

I have watched hundreds of people die and I have had many conversations with dying people about how they feel about the process of death. Death is something we all have in common. It will happen to all of us sooner or later.

Sadly, many societies have come to medicalize death the same way they have medicalized birth. That is not to deny the fact that modern medicine may be helpful in the birthing process as well in the process of dying, but we have to be judicious and make an effort to know when we need the medical system.

The public debate over controlling how we die revolves around the use of prescription drugs to end a person’s life when they feel that they no longer wish to suffer. This is where the legal/ethical problems begin. Once a person relies on prescription medication to die then they have to deal with doctors (as well as other health care providers) because they are the only people in our society who have the power to prescribe drugs.

Should we ask a doctor to help us die? It would be appropriate for us to ask a doctor to make us comfortable while we are dying, but to ask that person to cause or hasten death is asking them to do something contrary to their
professional role.

So then the question arises of how to hasten death without the help of the medical system. I would argue against a quick death such as using a gun or taking a lethal dose of barbiturates. If a person wants to die because they anticipate prolonged suffering, they have an option, but it is slow.

A slow death can be a good death. It gives a person time to say goodbye to friends and family and it takes away the stigma of an act of suicide. Native Americans understood how to die peacefully. When it came time for an elder to leave this world they would walk far into the woods and sit down until death came.

I doubt that very many of us would be able to willfully take the native American walk in the woods, but we do have a reasonable alternative. Simply stop eating and drinking. I have watched many people take this route and it is slow, peaceful and it does not force others to take responsibility for one person’s death.

If a person is still cognitively aware enough to choose this method they can control the setting in which they die. They can invite people important to them to say good-bye. They can have time to experience their own death.

Once a person stops eating or drinking it can take somewhere around seven to 10 days to die. There is no exact way to predict how long it will take and there can be a great deal of variability. These numbers are based on my experience. As a person becomes dehydrated their kidneys slowly stop functioning. Thirst can be an issue the first few days and simply wetting the lips is comforting.

After a few days of thirst many people are no longer concerned about it. The kidneys eventually lose their ability to filter the body’s waste products and the waste becomes a sort of natural poison. The person becomes weaker and begins to sleep more. Eventually they reach the point where they are sleeping all of the time and they simply move into a deeper and deeper sleep. As they approach death their breathing changes and there are longer and longer pauses between breaths. There may be some troubling noises, but they are only troubling for the living. And then there is the final breath.

That is truly death with dignity.

Richard Davis is a registered nurse and executive director of Vermont Citizens Campaign for Health. He writes from Guilford and welcomes comments at rbdav@comcast.net. Continue reading →

From the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus
4/27/12
With all due respect to the Rev. Ralph W. Howe, the many good works he does in the community, and the reverence due to his religious vocation, I must disagree with his position on death with dignity. I do not doubt his sincerity in remembering that “the dying confer inexplicable blessing on those around them even in the final hours of life.” I merely assert that the choice about how to die should lie with those who are doing it, and not, as he advocates, with some unspecified community of spectators, which does not have to, and, in fact, cannot, experience the subjective reality of any individual death.

Dying is surely the most private experience any of us will ever have. Why should it be subject to the mandates of an anonymous “community”?

Connie Brown, Montpelier Continue reading →

Full article at Seven Days
By Andy Bromage [04.18.12]
[...] “Rude” and “Washington-style” were how some senior lawmakers described the politics at play in the Senate.

Here’s another word for it: democracy.

If the past few weeks have shown anything, it’s that some Vermont senators have a very low tolerance for dissent among the ranks. There’s been so much finger wagging from Senate leaders about “following the rules,” I’m tempted to go out and buy each of them one of those giant foam fingers. At least it would give their tired hands a break.

It seems that some senators — mostly brash freshmen and a few uppity women — are upsetting the order of things by calling for floor votes on tough issues that some lawmakers would rather not discuss in an election year.

Take last week’s showdown over “physician-assisted death,” legislation that would give terminally ill Vermonters with fewer than six months to live the option of receiving a fatal dose of medication.

[...] Sen. Hinda Miller (D-Chittenden) found another, albeit creative, way to get right-to-die legislation to a floor vote: attach it to a tanning-bed bill and pass it through the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. Miller was determined to see the bill pass before she retires at year’s end. In a floor speech, she admitted she skirted the normal committee of jurisdiction — Senate Judiciary — but argued the legislation was more important than the “rules.”

“There’s something bigger than process here,” Miller said. “It’s about compassion and it’s about choice. As much as rules are made to follow, there are certain situations where rules are made to be broken.”

Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, didn’t like that one bit. “To hijack a bill out of committee is breaking the rules, and if we want to continue to break the rules in this building, there will be consequences for all of us,” he warned.

Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell (D-Windsor) was equally critical. He said that if senators permitted Hinda Miller’s maneuver to stand, the process would be “forever broken.” Sen. Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland) complained that the process had been “subverted,” while Sen. Robert Hartwell (D-Bennington) repeated Sears’ claim that it was “hijacked.” Apparently, enough colleagues were persuaded; they voted 18-11 to quash the death-with-dignity amendment.

But as freshman Sen. Philip Baruth (D-Chittenden) pointed out, Senate “rules” allow for just the type of maneuver executed by Miller. It’s not common. But it’s written right there in black and white.

Baruth has been on the losing end of three such power plays this year. In one, Baruth and Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) say they were urged by Sears with “a wink and a nod” to bring a bill decriminalizing marijuana as a floor amendment, only to have Sears turn around and scuttle it.

Baruth suggests the current class of senators isn’t as obedient as leadership — and tradition — requires. He believes the ruling class has employed heavy-handed tactics to put down the rebellions.

“They’ve been at a loss for how to deal with [us], and I think the reaction has been an overreaction by the Senate leadership,” Baruth says. “They have become heavier in their tactics since last year and, as a result, people who are trying to move things are becoming more ingenious in their tactics.”

[...]
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From the Brattleboro Reformer On death and our right to it Ray C. Walker, M.D. – Guilford, April 18 Editor of the Reformer: It is always interesting to hear of someone’s idea of a “good death,” especially from somebody as … Continue reading →

Full article at the Bennington Banner
4/14/12 NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Staff Writer
[...] Health and Welfare Committee Chairwoman Hinda Miller, D-Chittenden, said she wanted to see a vote this year before she retires from the Senate. An attempt was made Thursday to suspend the rules and vote on the measure despite Scott’s ruling. The procedural vote requires three-fourths of the Senate to approve suspending the rules. Proponents of the right-to-die legislation could only muster 11 votes, however, with 18 voting against it.

A vote on the actual legislation was never held. [...]
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Full article at the Brattleboro Reformer
4/14/12 By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN / Reformer Staff
[...] Death with dignity

The Senate on Thursday voted 18-11 against suspending a rule that would have allowed Senators to debate the controversial bill that would allow terminally ill patients to end their lives with the help of a physician.

Supporters of the bill attached it to another bill that would prohibit minors from using tanning beds.

That move was made to get the issue on to the Senate floor, but lawmakers would have had to suspend the rules to allow the Senate to debate the death with dignity, or physician-assisted suicide, bill.

With Thursday’s vote, the bill will have to wait at least another year before Vermont takes up the issue once again.

Rep. Michael Mrowicki, D-Putney, a long time supporter of the bill, said that while the Senate vote was disappointing, the issue is sure to make its way back to the Statehouse next year.

“There seems to be strong support to keep the efforts going beyond this session,” Mrowicki said. “We were reminded last week that in 1992 Rep. Squires of Guilford helped get the bill protecting gays against discrimination and then we passed civil unions 10 years later and another 10 years later marriage equality. It may take a while to effect such a cultural change and supporters like me will keep at it.” [...]
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Full editorial at the Rutland Herald
4/15/12
[...] The parliamentary maneuvering in the Senate on the Death With Dignity bill became a story in itself, and ultimately a number of senators voted against the bill in part because of the methods that other senators were using to put it to a vote. Some of the more colorful personalities among the club of 30 clashed openly about the attempt by backers to suspend the rules of the Senate in order to consider the bill.

Backers of the bill presented it as a humane measure allowing terminally ill Vermonters to make the choice to end their lives on their own terms by requesting a lethal dose of medication from a physician. The bill had built into it many safeguards to ensure that the request by the patient was legitimate. The positive experience by Oregonians with a similar law showed that the bill could work.

The death of Dick Mallary, a well-liked, longtime House member and congressman, provided a real-life case study of how the will could help people. Mallary, a supporter of Death With Dignity legislation, died without the benefit of its legally sanctioned assistance. [...]
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Saturday April 14, 2012 Bob Engel, Marlboro
Editor of the Reformer:

I was deeply saddened to hear that the Death with Dignity Bill itself died after its brief life in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A lot of people worked very hard even to get the bill its short, tenuous existence. I am reminded yet again, that the tendrils of government, even in a state as open-minded as Vermont, can control my decisions about something as personal and intimate as my own death. Here, I would like to illustrate my position with the deaths of two women I knew quite well — one my mother, the other, my mother-in-law. [...]
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Journal of the Senate
________________
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012
And that the bill ought to pass in concurrence with such proposals of amendment.

Thereupon, pending the question, Shall the Senate propose to the House to amend the bill as recommended by the Committee on Health and Welfare?

Senator Mullin raised a point of order under Sec. 402 of Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure on the grounds that the proposal of amendment offered by the Committee on Health and Welfare was not germane to the bill and therefore could not be considered by the Senate.

Thereupon, the President sustained the point of order and ruled that the proposal of amendment offered by the Committee on Health and Welfare was not germane for the following reasons:
In order for an amendment to be considered, it must be germane. Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure, Sec. 402.
Whether a proposed amendment is germane is not always an easy question.
[... Roll Call results at end of full post] Continue reading →

From Blurt, the Seven Days Staff Blog
4/13/12 Andy Bromage
No one expected discussion of a right-to-die bill to last more than a few minutes in the Vermont Senate on Thursday. On her way into the chamber, Amy Shollenberger, a lobbyist for the advocacy group Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont, quipped, “Don’t blink, or you’ll miss it.”

Even so, sticker-wearing supporters and opponents of the legislation packed the chamber to see the full Senate debate the issue for the first time.

In the end, they got a debate — but no up-or-down vote.

The Vermont Senate went into session ostensibly to tackle a procedural question: Could legislation that would give terminally ill Vermonters the right to end their lives with a fatal dose of medication be added to a bill regulating tanning salons?

Proponents of an Oregon-style “death with dignity” law attached the language to the tanning bill in committee this week in a last-ditch attempt to pass it this session. But whether it survived to get a floor vote depended on whether it was deemed germane to tanning salons. [...]
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Full article at the Burlington Free Press
Apr. 12, 2012, Terri Hallenbeck
MONTPELIER — For nearly two hours Thursday afternoon, the Vermont Senate focused on legislation that would allow people with fewer than six months to live to opt for a lethal dose of medication.

From the start, it was clear the legislation wouldn’t pass — and it didn’t, failing on a procedural vote. The point, though, was just to have the debate, supporters said.

“Even though we didn’t win, we elevated the process. We had a good conversation and that has a lot of value,” said Sen. Hinda Miller, D-Chittenden, who brought the issue forward as an amendment on an unrelated bill.

Sixteen senators — just over half the full Senate — rose to speak on the issue. Some shared intense personal stories of mothers and aunts. Others spoke passionately of proper Senate procedure. The small Senate chamber was lined with dozens of supporters and opponents.

Marie Antunes of Burlington sat in the Senate chamber wearing a sticker that read, “I oppose doctor-prescribed suicide.” Having read that the issue was coming to the Senate floor, she made sure to be there. “It’s probably one of the most contentious issues in Vermont,” she said.

A few yards away, Dick Walters of Shelburne, a longtime supporter of the legislation, also watched intently. “I was disappointed that Vermonters won’t get to hear a vote of the Senate,” he said, but added, “This is one more step in a 10-year process.”

In the end, 11 senators voted in favor of suspending rules to consider the amendment. A three-quarters’ majority — or 22 votes — were needed to keep the amendment alive.

At Miller’s urging, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee had earlier this week attached the end-of-life legislation to a bill that would prohibit those under age 18 from using tanning salons. Previously, the end-of-life measure had failed to make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as the majority of the panel opposed it.
[...] Continue reading →

From Vermont Digger
by Alan Panebaker | April 12, 2012
The long-proposed “death with dignity” bill will have to wait another year to see if Vermont legislators support or oppose it.

In an 18-11 vote Thursday afternoon, the Senate voted against suspending the rules to allow discussion of the bill, which the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare attached as an amendment to a bill prohibiting minors from using tanning beds. Supporters and opponents of the bill filled every seat in the Senate to watch lawmakers debate the justification for such an unorthodox proposal.

Critics of the last-minute amendment said it was a blatant violation of the rules that allow only “germane” bills to be attached as amendments.

Senators have proposed the bill, which would allow terminally ill patients to decide to end their lives with the assistance of a doctor, for the past 10 years but it has never reached full debate on the floor. [...]

Although the Senate voted against suspending the traditional process to agree to discuss the bill, which Lt. Gov. Phil Scott deemed was not germane to the tanning bed issue, senators did discuss the underlying bill.

Sears warned against the potential risk of increased suicides due to the state “normalizing” the practice.

Others, including Sens. Diane Snelling and Dick McCormack, said much of the resistance to the underlying bill is grounded in religions that view suicide as a sin.

“My choices should not be restricted because of someone else’s religious preference,” Snelling said.

For many senators, just getting some sort of debate onto the floor was a victory.

Sen. Anthony Pollina voted for the bill in the Health and Welfare committee but against it on the Senate floor.

Pollina said limited discussion was better than none. He said he voted against discussing the bill on the merits because he had concerns that people would vote based on how they felt about the process rather than the death with dignity proposal.

“I had a fear that with the way in which it came to floor it would allow people on the fence to vote ‘no’ because they didn’t like the process,” he said. [...]
Continue reading →

Full article at WCAX
Apr 12, 2012 By Susie Steimle
MONTPELIER, Vt. -

A battle over breaking the rules in the Senate Thursday.

The Health and Welfare Committee attached the death with dignity, or end of life bill to the teen tanning bill. The tanning bill makes it illegal for tanning salons to allow anyone under the age of 18 to tan, whereas the end of life bill gives terminally ill patients the right to choose to end their life.

The Senate had to vote on if the amendment was “germane”; essentially whether it’s appropriate to attach this to the tanning bill. They decided it wasn’t. But supporters of death with dignity insisted on suspending the rules. Many of them are frustrated that the bill hasn’t moved this session. It’s in front of the Judiciary Committee because it could make doctors exempt from homicide if they administer lethal drugs to their patients. One of several contentious and complicated parts of this bill.

Sen. Dick Sears has received a lot of criticism from the public and his colleagues and been blamed for single-handedly stopping the bill.

“I can take the licks, I can take the hits, but when the process breaks down we as a Senate lose and the people of Vermont are the bigger losers,” said Sears, D-Bennington County.

“At least have the discussion, whether the vote is up or down is almost irrelevant at this point, I believe strongly in it, but we should have the discussion, we were sent here to do the business of the people,” said Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison County.

The Senate voted 18-11 not to hear the amendment. So again, we’ve said this several times this session, but the bill will not be heard on the Senate floor.

That 18-11 doesn’t necessarily indicate how the Senate stands on the issue, although the supporters of the end of life bill were in that minority 11 who voted to debate the bill Thursday. Several senators made a point Thursday to say this vote is about the rules and following the process. They were very specific about that. So it’s still up in the air how divided it is in the Senate. Continue reading →

From WPTZ
Apr 12, 2012
MONTPELIER, Vt. -
The Vermont Senate has rejected consideration of controversial end of life legislation supporters call ‘death with dignity’, and detractors consider physician-assisted suicide.

The 11-18 vote came at the conclusion of an often contentious, two-hour debate on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.

Supporters engineered the showdown earlier in the week when, in a surprise maneuver, the Health and Welfare Committee attached the bill to an unrelated measure regulating indoor tanning salons.

The Judiciary Committee had earlier decided against sending the end of life bill to the Senate floor.

“For ten years we’ve watched the ‘death with dignity’ bill in the Senate, for ten years it’s stayed in committee with no hope of getting out,” said Sen. Claire Ayer, an Addison Democrat. “At least have the discussion, whether the vote is up or down is almost irrelevant.”
[...]
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From Vermont Public Radio Thursday, 04/12/12, John Dillon The Vermont Senate has rejected legislation that would allow terminally ill people to get a physician’s help in ending their own lives. The legislation was defeated on a procedural vote. The bill … Continue reading →

From Vermont Press Bureau Posted on April 12, 2012 by Thatcher Moats After intense debate on the Senate floor Thursday, lawmakers struck down an attempt to pass a bill that would have allowed doctors to help terminally ill patients end … Continue reading →

Full article at the Bennington Banner
Thursday April 12, 2012, NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Staff Writer
BENNINGTON — Right-to-die legislation thought to be derailed this legislative session may still be on life support after a Senate committee attached it to another bill Tuesday and voted it out of committee, incensing fellow lawmakers along the way.

[...] Bennington County Sen. Dick Sears, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke harshly Wednesday of Miller’s tactics. “I’m particularly disturbed by the back-door attempt by the committee, particularly by Sen. Hinda Miller. This is exactly the kind of stuff that goes on down in Washington that has people so disgusted.”

Sears took heat last month when his committee chose to table the right-to-die bill, which would allow physicians to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients that have less than six months to live. With one committee member in the hospital, a vote was poised to result in a 2-to-2 tie, said Sears, who personally opposes the measure. Sears’ decision was supported by Campbell, who also opposes the bill. [...]
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Full article at the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus
By Thatcher Moats
VERMONT PRESS BUREAU – Published: April 11, 2012
[...] “The people of Vermont want the Legislature to vote on this bill,” Dick Walters, president of advocacy group Patient Choices Vermont, said in a written statement. “We appreciate our Senate supporters’ willingness to help bring the bill to the Senate for a vote.”

[...]

Sen. Claire Ayer, chairwoman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, said lawmakers have heard from both sides of the debate over the years, including this year before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“We’ve taken the testimony,” she said. “It’s time to make a decision.” [...]
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From WCAX.com
4/10/12 By Kristin Carlson

Right to die legislation has been resurrected in Montpelier– but maybe not for long.

It’s an emotional issue that has drawn large crowds on both sides of the issue to the Statehouse. But the so-called Death with Dignity bill appeared to die last month when a Senate committee tabled it.

Then Tuesday another committee voted 3-2 to attach the legislation to a tanning bill and forward it to the Senate floor.

Senate leader John Campbell opposes the assisted suicide bill, but won’t try to block the maneuver.

However, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, is expected to block the vote, ruling that the assisted suicide amendment is not germane to the bill it was attached to, which deals with limits on tanning salon use by teenagers. [...] Continue reading →

Full article at Vermont Digger
4/10/12 Alan Panebaker
The controversial death with dignity bill will reach the Senate floor in an unlikely manner.

On Tuesday the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare tacked it on as a last-minute amendment to a bill prohibiting minors from using tanning beds.

The move took opponents of the bill, including Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, by surprise.

Campbell, who is standing in on the committee in place of Sen. Sally Fox, was out of the room when Sen. Hinda Miller introduced the amendment. He heard about the bill when he was sitting in another committee and rushed back.

The bill passed 3-2, with dissent from Campbell and Sen. Kevin Mullin. Voting for the bill were Miller, and Sens. Anthony Pollina and Claire Ayer.

Miller, who is not running for re-election, has supported the death with dignity bill for a decade.

“Those of us who have been hanging on for 10 years want it to get to the floor,” Miller said. [...]
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Full article at Blurt: The Seven Days Staff Blog
4/10/12 Andy Bromage
[...] In a surprise move Tuesday, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee found a way to advance right-to-die legislation that until today appeared dead. Using a procedural move, the committee attached a right-to-die provision to a bill regulating tanning salons. The amendment would make it legal for terminally-ill Vermonters with fewer than six months to live to request a fatal dose of medication.
[...]
Adam Necrason, a lobbyist for the group Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont, said that supporters “continue to see a path to passage.

“This is a bill that’s widely supported by Vermonters and there is a lot of grassroots support,” he said.

Miller says the legislation is identical to the language proposed at the start of 2011, plus an added section saying that to be eligible to use the law, a patient must be in hospice care or have had a palliative care consultation.[...]
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Full article at Vermont Press Bureau
Posted on April 10, 2012 by Thatcher Moats

[...] The physician-assisted suicide bill was inserted into (what else?) a bill that regulates tanning beds.

With no discussion and no testimony, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted 3-2 in favor of adding the death with dignity amendment to the tanning bed bill and then voted 3-2 to approve the overall tanning bed bill. [...] Continue reading →

From the Montpelier Bridge
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From the Randolph Herald
3/29/12
Betty Chase, Rochester

My Mom LOVED to walk. She could spend all day out walking in the woods or back roads. When she had her first granddaughter she would walk with her in a pack on her back.

Granddaughter #2 was always being pushed in a stroller. In the summer of 2006 it started to become hard for her to walk, and by the summer of 2007 she had been told she had ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. [...]
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From the Burlington Free Press
3/26/12 BETH THORPE, South Burlington

Why, why, why is it taking so long to pass a single bill, death with dignity. I am frustrated that three members of the committee don’t support the bill so they won’t pass it through to the full Senate for a vote. What are they afraid of? I would rather see the whole Senate vote, one way or the other, than have the bill held hostage because some committee members don’t support the bill. [...]
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From the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus
By TERRENCE YOUK – Published: March 24, 2012

A rebuttal to Edward Mahoney’s commentary, or perhaps more accurately, his fear mongering.

At the end of my brother’s life, ravaged by ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) he was only able to move one finger on one hand. He was reduced to unintelligible utterances, (it once took me 10 minutes to decipher a simple request for a damp washcloth to moisten his mouth). He was terrorized, having lost control of his swallowing and experienced choking attacks regularly, often in the middle of the night with no way to alert us. He had blinding phantom nerve pain in his limbs which even morphine could not touch. He was trapped in an abject hell beyond anything most of us will ever experience. Throughout the process of his disease, Tom fought hard to live life as fully as he could — he was in no way or by any measure a quitter or deluded by depression.

However, he didn’t find wisdom in hanging on to the bitter end which in all likelihood would have found him choking to death. He wanted a peaceful and dignified passing from a life lived fully to a state of grace. Yes, he had hospice care, he had palliative care options — all of which failed to ameliorate his symptoms. It happens, and a lot more often than medical ethicists like to admit to; he was one among many who fall through the cracks of the medical system despite the best intentions of the best of us. So, what then is the fate of those terminally ill patients at the end of life who cannot be helped by medical intervention? Do they have no say in how they will pass from this life with dignity and peace? [...]
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From the Burlington Free Press
CAROLYN L. BATES, Burlington

I support the death with dignity bill (H.274 and S.103) and I hope that my legislators will support it too.

Oregon passed a death with dignity law in 1994. It works just fine. A recent movie “How to Die in Oregon” won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival. Everyone should watch this movie to understand both sides of this very emotional issue, and the significance of allowing someone to die with dignity. [...] Continue reading →

Saturday March 24, 2012 – STEVEN W. SINDING, Manchester
Full Senate should vote on Death with Dignity bill

The popular Death with Dignity bill, which would give terminally ill Vermonters choice and control at the end of life, should be voted on by the full Senate. It should not be bottled up in a legislative committee by a few powerful lawmakers.

Last Friday, Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell, D-Windsor, and Judiciary Chairman Senator Dick Sears, D-Bennington, summarily and unilaterally shut down any further discussion or debate on S.103.

These two senators decided to not allow the full Senate a chance to vote on the issue despite the fact that a large number of senators — 11 out of 30 — have sponsored the bill and, by all accounts, a full Senate vote would be close.
[...]
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Posted in the Bennington Banner and Vermont Digger
March 23, 2012
STEVEN W. SINDING, Manchester
[...]two senators decided to not allow the full Senate a chance to vote on the issue despite the fact that a large number of senators — 11 out of 30 — have sponsored the bill and, by all accounts, a full Senate vote would be close.

Interestingly, both senators’ constituents seem to strongly support the proposed right for terminally ill Vermonters to have choice and control at the very end of their lives. When asked in a recent and well-respected Zogby international poll if the respondent would support or oppose legislation to “give a mentally competent adult, dying of a terminal disease with a prognosis of less than 6 months to live, the right to request and take medication to peacefully hasten death?” Windsor voters favored such a law by an overwhelming margin of 80 percent to 14 percent and Bennington voters favored it by 74 to 16 percent.

Senator Sears correctly points out that this is a very emotional and personal issue for all concerned. Indeed, he repeatedly has labeled Death with Dignity as one those rare legislative issues of conscience and conviction, where his personal beliefs should trump his constituents’ beliefs. The question then becomes, should Senators Sears and Campbell be permitted to impose the convictions of only two Senators upon the entire Vermont Senate? Or should the full Senate be allowed to express their convictions on an issue of such magnitude?[...] Continue reading →

From Vermont Digger
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Rep. Patsy French, a Democrat from Randolph.

Dick Mallary and I shared a number of beliefs. He believed, and I continue to believe, that representing our constituents in the Vermont Legislature is both an honor and a serious responsibility. He believed strongly, and I continue to believe strongly, that proposed death with dignity legislation should become law in Vermont. During the death with dignity debate several years ago, Dick and his wife went on television saying they hoped the bill would be passed in time for them and other Vermonters. Sadly, it was not. Dick, living with terminal, metastasized prostate cancer, did not have the options which the death with dignity bill he supported would have allowed. He died last September.

In early 2011, Dick Mallary appeared at the Statehouse with other Vermont leaders to urge passage of death with dignity legislation. He argued that this was not a Republican or Democratic issue but an issue of freedom and individual choice. He also argued that with more than a decade of data from Oregon (the first state to pass a death with dignity law 15 years ago), the fears of some in the disability community were unfounded. Some had expressed fear that this law would endanger the lives of individuals who have disabilities. I strongly agree with Rep. Mallary that there is no evidence to support the concerns of some of my friends in the disability community.

In 2007 my committee heard compelling personal testimony from former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts, who earned her political stripes as a disability rights advocate for 40 years and whose husband used a wheelchair and whose son has autism. She came to Vermont to testify on the Oregon experience and in support of the Vermont bill. She stated emphatically that she “would never support any law that would be harmful to persons with disabilities.” I have an adult son who has significant disabilities, and I also would never support a law that would be harmful to individuals with disabilities. If my son were to have a terminal illness, I would want him to have the legal option of using medication to end his life, but the choice of whether or not to use the law would be entirely his, just as it would be for any other “mentally competent” adult Vermonter with a terminal illness. Continue reading →

From the Charlotte News On multiple occasions in the past I have enumerated in the “Commentary” section of The Charlotte News the numerous reasons for supporting legislation that would bring an Oregon-like Death With Dignity bill to passage in the … Continue reading →

Listen to it at the Mark Johnson Show blog (Death with Dignity questions at 12:47) So, is it done because today is crossover? I don’t think that this will be bound by the crossover rules… It’s not clear to me … Continue reading →

Thursday, 03/22/12, By Bill Mares, Produced by Betty Smith-Mastaler
Listen at Vermont Public Radio
[...] My mother was one tough woman. Because she lived life to the fullest she said she was always ready to check out when the time came. And she was.

For twenty years she stockpiled prescription sleeping pills on the second shelf of the drug cabinet. She renewed the prescription regularly, in the same way that she had the fire extinguishers re-charged.

The Death with Dignity bill would legalize and encourage open and informed conversation about end-of-life choices between the doctor and a terminally ill, mentally competent patient, like my mother.

I firmly believe that we should take this conversation out of the guilt-shrouded darkness and into the open, where it can be supervised, regulated, and available to all who qualify. I support having a law which protects merciful doctors who follow the prescribed protocols and safeguards already shown to function well in the state of Oregon.

My mother liked to say she didn’t have much of a sense of humor, but near the end she delivered one memorable line. When I asked her how she was going to do the deed, she said she would put the pills into a bowl of ice cream, “but it will be Häagen-Dazs,” she said, “and not, I’m afraid, Ben and Jerry’s.” Continue reading →

By Marianne White, Postmdia News March 22, 2012 Full article at the Montreal Gazette QUEBEC – A report into sensitive end-of-life issues recommended Thursday the Quebec government makes it legal for doctors to help the terminally ill die under “exceptional … Continue reading →

The Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing on S. 103, the Death with Dignity bill, on 3/14. Some of the testimony in favor of the legislation is available for you to listen to below. Michael Sirotkin, Sirotkin & Necrason … Continue reading →

Full article at the Bennington Banner Wednesday March 21, 2012 – NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Staff Writer [...] Shumlin said senators were facing a vote of conscience had the bill advanced. “This isn’t like whether or not you support an appropriation … Continue reading →

From vt.Buzz, the Burlington Free Press staff blog
March 20, 2012 by Terri Hallenbeck
[...]
Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, and Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor, were both swamped Tuesday with calls pushing them to rejuvenate the physician-assisted death bill. Campbell said most were from out-of-state.
[...]
Continue reading →

3/20/2012 Barbara Coombs Lee
Full story at the Huffington Post
[...] It’s making me think about similarities between the movement for death with dignity and LGBT dignity. Like other movements for human liberty, seminal events mark a trajectory toward inevitable success.

1. It starts with consciousness-raising. As human rights lawyer Sylvia Law describes, one day a light comes on. People experience their own private “Aha!” moment. Then more do, and multiple sparks of recognition illuminate the injustice for all to see. In the 1970s LGBT advocates worked hard to muster light in the darkness of false assumptions, degradation and violence.

For end-of-life choices, common wisdom was that with death, comes suffering. We’ve heard doctors tell a family, “We all have to suffer some, don’t we?” In our movement sparks first fly when people witness end-of-life agony and indignity and think, “This is not right.” Grief magnifies outrage, and awareness dawns that American law and medicine fails us at life’s end.

2. Soon fear, shame and guilt no longer keep outrage in check. People in our movement share this with LGBT communities. [...] Continue reading →

The Mark Johnson Show on WDEV Listen to it on the Mark Johnson Show blog Senator Sears discusses his decision to not vote on the Death with Dignity bill.

Full post at Blurt: the Seven Days Staff Blog
by Andy Bromage on March 16, 2012
[...] committee chairman Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington, pictured), who opposes the bill, felt it wouldn’t be right to vote on the legislation without Nitka present. Sears held firm despite pressure from Gov. Peter Shumlin, a backer of “death with dignity,” to vote the bill out of committee with an “adverse” recommendation so that the full Senate could debate it. Sears conferred with Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell and determined that was the “wrong thing to do.”

Backers of the bill said they are prepared to fight for the vote on the Senate floor this year, but the prospects for that happening appeared uncertain.

“We continue to see a path to passage this year,” said Dick Walters, a Shelburne retiree who is president of Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont, the main group behind S.103. “The Senate vote is too close to call. If the issue gets an unobstructed vote on the floor there is a real chance it could pass.”

Friday was “crossover” at the Statehouse, the deadline by which bills must be passed out of committee to be considered this session. The right-to-die bill, called “doctor-assisted suicide” by opponents, failed to survive crossover. But there are still at least two ways the bill could get to a floor vote. [...] Continue reading →

3/16/12. Watch it at Vermont Public Television. Death with Dignity section begins at 10 and a half minutes.

From the Bennington Banner Saturday March 17, 2012 NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Staff Writer BENNINGTON — Progress on legislation that would allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives with prescribed medication came to a screeching halt Friday and the … Continue reading →

From Vermont Digger
March 16, 2012
Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Fred Crowley, M.D., who was president of the Vermont Medical Society from 1993-94.
[...] It is time Vermont passes a law that permits terminally ill patients to choose how their final days will end. People should be able to choose from a full range of options such as palliative care, hospice care, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, total sedation and aid-in-dying. Under this proposed law no physician, pharmacist nor dying patient is required to participate, but for those of us who believe it is humane to do so, the option should be made legal and available. I strongly encourage our legislators to provide legal sanction for Vermonters to have the freedom to choose these various end of life options, a freedom as Episcopalian minister Rev. Alexander Zabriskie noted at the Judiciary Committee hearing this week, that God has already granted.
Continue reading →

3/16/12 By Susie Steimle Transcript at WCAX

3/15/12, By Jane Lindholm, Produced by Samantha Fields Listen at Vermont Public Radio One of the most emotional and contentious bills in the Statehouse right now would allow terminally ill patients to get a prescription to legally end their own … Continue reading →

March 14, 2012 John Benjamin, West Fairlee Read it here

From the Rutland Herald The Rev. CATHERINE CADIEUX, Putney According to Pauline Austin in her March 12 letter, strangers think Vermont is “Wonderful, a great state,” because (she assumes) they are full of sentimental nostalgia for the imaginary world of … Continue reading →

Geroge Eighmey, Oregon legislator and champion of the Death with Dignity law in that state, discusses the “Oregon experience” with the law. From the Mark Johnson show on WDEV

3/16/12 Samantha Fields
Listen at Vermont Public Radio
[...](Fields) Sears does not support the bill.

But this week, he decided that the committee should hear testimony.

Governor Shumlin was a big part of the reason. He supports the bill, and he says he’d like to see the legislature hold a full debate.

(Shumlin) “I would hope they would, yes. I think it’s an important issue, and I’ve encouraged Senate leadership to hold a vote.” [...] Continue reading →

From the Charlotte Citizen Bob Ullrich, Charlotte On multiple occasions in the past, I have fulfilled an educational role enumerating the numerous reasons for supporting legislation that would bring a Death with Dignity bill to passage in the Vermont Legislature. … Continue reading →

Full post at Blurt: The Seven Days Staff Blog Posted by Andy Bromage on March 15, 2012 Following an emotional three hours of testimony on a right-to-die bill Wednesday, state Sen. Alice Nitka (D-Windsor) shared a personal story about her … Continue reading →

Full article at the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus
By Thatcher Moats, VERMONT PRESS BUREAU – Published: March 15, 2012

Jeb Wallace-Brodeur / Staff Photo

[...] The proposed Vermont law is based on one Oregon passed in 1998. In the nearly 14 years since, none of the fears espoused by opponents of Oregon’s death-with-dignity bill have come to pass, said George Eighmey, who served in the Oregon Legislature from 1993 to 1999 and is now a spokesman for the Death With Dignity National Center.

The bill pending in the Vermont Legislature would allow lethal prescriptions only for patients who are terminally ill, have six months or less to live, and are mentally competent to make the decision.

But the “slippery slope” argument is one used by opponents who fear the law would later be expanded to include more people.

The Oregon experience has debunked this argument, Eighmey said.

“I can tell you, in the 14 years the law has been in existence and use in the state of Oregon, the only times it’s been amended is to address the concerns of those who oppose the law,” Eighmey said.

Eighmey also said the Oregon law hasn’t sent a message to the broader public that suicide for people without terminal illness is acceptable, and he argued there are no cases of people being coerced into committing suicide as many opponents fear.

“Again, simple answer: No,” Eighmey said.

Most of the witnesses who testified against the bill were doctors or nurses from around Vermont. Many of them said the idea of medical professionals helping Vermonters end their lives runs counter to their code of ethics and their belief system.

“It is a sad day in Vermont when human beings are asked to help other human beings to die rather than extend compassionate and respectful care to ease suffering and pain,” said Lynne Caulfield, a registered nurse from Dummerston. “It is especially disturbing that health care professionals are being called upon to assist patients to die rather than live.”

Proponents of the bill say Vermonters suffering severe pain at the end of their lives should have the choice to end it with help from a doctor.

The late Dick Mallary — a longtime Vermont politician and vocal supporter of the end-of-life legislation — took his own life last year, his nephew Peter Mallary told the committee.

Mallary said the bill is about choice, pointing out that under the legislation doctors aren’t forced to aid patients in dying and patients aren’t forced to hasten their death.

“Vermonters like more than anything to have freedom and freedom of choice, and that’s what this bill is about,” said Mallary. [...]
Continue reading →

Full article at Vermont Digger

Dr. Diana Barnard, a specialist in palliative care gave testimony in favor of a death with dignity bill Wednesday. VTD/Alan Panebaker

by Alan Panebaker | March 14, 2012
[...] The bill, called “An Act Relating to Patient Choice and Control at End of Life,” has been considered in one form or another for 10 years. Oregon and Washington have laws that allow the practice.

The current version of the legislation would allow mentally competent adults with terminal illnesses to request a deadly dose of medication. Patients would need a diagnosis that they have six months or less to live. The legislation requires verification of mental competence and consultation with two doctors.

Diana Barnard, a doctor who specializes in palliative care — which focuses on preventing and relieving patient suffering — says the choice to end life is about the patient.

“It’s not about the government, and it’s certainly not about the doctor,” Barnard said. “I’ve always supported patient autonomy in all aspects of medical care. At the time of death, which is so vitally personal, I feel like we should not abandon them.” [...] Continue reading →

Listen here

From NECN
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The Commons issue #143 (Wednesday, March 14, 2012)
Ben Underhill, Brattleboro
I urge all Vermonters to ask their state senators and representatives to push the Death With Dignity Bill out of committee and let the full Legislature debate the issue.

The bills, H.274 and S.103, follow the precedent set by passage over 10 years ago of the law in Oregon. This is not a religious issue, or one about slippery slopes or euthanasia. It will not disadvantage the disabled or the elderly. It’s simply about choice. [...] Continue reading →

Full article at the Bennington Banner
Wednesday March 14, 2012
MONTPELIER (AP) — Alice Cook Bassett died in December, several weeks after deciding to stop eating and drinking. The 86-year-old decided she didn’t want to live anymore with intractable nausea, her daughter said.

In her final days, she asked her daughter, Cindy Cook, to back legislation in Vermont to make the path to death easier for others. This week, lawmakers are beginning to debate a bill that would allow terminally ill people to end their own lives with a doctor’s help.

Those last weeks that Basset, a former state representative from Burlington, spent at her daughter’s home in Adamant “gave me a lot of clarity about how weak we are as a society about acknowledging that death is a part of life,” Cook said this week. Too often missing is “just making space for people to die in a way that feels most appropriate to that person.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee began taking testimony on Tuesday on a bill to make Vermont the fourth state — following Oregon, Washington and Montana — to allow a terminally ill patient to obtain a prescription from a doctor for a lethal dose of medication. [...] Continue reading →

From Seven Days
Thanks for your timely report on the upcoming judiciary committee hearings [Blurt: “‘Right to Die’ Bill to Get a Hearing in Montpelier Next Week,” March 8]. Vermont should follow Oregon and Washington in providing its terminally ill citizens whose suffering is more than they can bear, the option for a gentle, peaceful death. The majority of Vermonters want this right. S.103 is built on Oregon’s 14-year experience with their Death With Dignity law and its multiple safeguards. It is time for Vermont to move forward on this human-rights issue.

David Babbott, M.D.
Shelburne Continue reading →

Full article at Seven Days Fair Game
By Andy Bromage [03.14.12]
Hans Penner was battling stage IV lung cancer when a right-to-die bill was introduced in the Vermont legislature early in 2011.

After a successful career teaching religion at Dartmouth College, Penner had retired to Wake Robin, a senior living community in Shelburne, where he became active in the so-called death-with-dignity movement. He served on the board of Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont, the main group behind a bill that would give terminally ill Vermonters with fewer than six months to live the option of taking a fatal dose of medication.

While undergoing chemotherapy, Penner spoke out as a poster child for the legislation, saying that when things got bad, he wanted to be able to end his life — and his suffering — voluntarily.

“I’m a good Darwinian. I understand [death] is a natural thing,” Penner told Seven Days in January 2011. “But I want to be able to make decisions right through the end. If that’s what it came to, my hope is the legislature would have passed that bill.”
[...] Continue reading →

Transcript at WCAX
Mar 13, 2012, By Susie Steimle
Continue reading →

Listen to it at Vermont Public Radio (Starting at 2:18)
Tuesday, 03/13/12 5:50pm – John Dillon
[...] Doctor Fred Crowley, a former head of the Medical Society, says the legislation would empower patients by giving them control over the end of their lives.

(Crowley) “I mean if there’s anything more personal than the manner in which you chose to accept the terms of your death, I don’t know what is more personal. I see it as a civil liberties argument.”

(Dillon) The Medical Society says the bill would discourage effective palliative care in which doctors help patients manage pain at the end of their lives.

But Crowley says the experience in Oregon shows strong support for hospice services and palliative care.

(Crowley) “I do think also that the Medical Society’s stance is actually hurting its own members because when there are firm statutes in the law saying, ‘You can do this; you cannot do that; this is the procedure,’ then there are safe harbors for physicians.” [...]
Continue reading →

Full article in the Rutland Herald
Thatcher Moats VERMONT PRESS BUREAU
Published: Yesterday

[...] Lobbyists pushing for the legislation wouldn’t disclose what they have for a vote count in the Senate other than to say it’s close. But they argue it will win approval if the full Senate considers it.

“We do believe if it goes to the floor the votes will be there,” said Amy Shollenberger, a lobbyist who has been organizing on behalf of Patient Choices Vermont, a group backing the legislation.

Shollenberger said that once lawmakers who are on the fence can have their questions answered in an official way through a hearing, they “will see it’s a good idea to vote for the bill.” [...] Continue reading →

Full article at Vermont Digger
by Anne Galloway | March 12, 2012

[...] Patient-directed death legislation re-emerges

Sen. Dick Sears will hold a hearing Wednesday morning on a “patient-directed death” bill and then take additional testimony in his committee, Senate Judiciary.

S.103 would allow patients with a terminal illness to end their lives with legally obtained prescription drugs. Disability rights groups and religious institutions oppose the legislation.

Sears told Seven Days he didn’t think the bill had the votes to pass in the Senate, but he’s holding the hearing on behalf of a group of constituents from an independent living center in Burlington.

Until now, the legislation has languished because Senate leader Campbell has been outspoken in his opposition, and he has done little to encourage lawmakers to move it forward. Campbell said though he could have put the “kibosh” on Sears’ hearings this week, he wouldn’t stand in the way of the bill if it has support in the Senate. Eleven senators have endorsed the bill.

“If they want to have hearings, I don’t mind the debate,” Campbell said. “I don’t think there are the votes there but who knows people can change at the last minute.”

Campbell made a promise to his dying mother he would never support legislation that would allow people to take their own lives.

“I’m personally going to vote against it,” Campbell said. “I have an issue with bill itself from a legal standpoint. It puts physicians in awkward position especially those with longtime relationships with patients.”

If the bill gets to the floor and two senators had a change of heart, the vote could be close and could open the possibility of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott resolving a tie. [...] Continue reading →

Full article on the Bennington Banner
Tuesday March 13, 2012 – NEAL P. GOSWAMI, Staff Writer
[...] “The strong majority of Vermonters’ view this as a personal liberty issue,” said Adam Necrason, a registered lobbyist with Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont. “We hope lawmakers will be swayed by the facts proven by the law’s extensive track record in Oregon, not the fears portrayed by some opponents.”

Necrason said he believes the bill does have enough support to pass.

“We see a path to passage,” Necrason said. “We think the vote is close and the facts matter, and in the end, it’s about representing constituents.”

Many of the residents at Fillmore Pond in Bennington, an assisted-living facility, have been pushing for hearings on the bill, according to Sears. While many others are against it, Sears said allowing a hearing made sense to allow for both points of view to be heard. [...] Continue reading →

Senate Judiciary Committee to consider the bill

MONTPELIER, VT – Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Sears has scheduled a hearing for the Death with Dignity bill (S.103) for Wednesday morning, March 14, 2012. This hearing will be the first time the legislation has been considered in the Vermont Senate. Several dozen Vermonters are expected to attend the hearing.

The Death with Dignity bill would allow terminally ill patients with fewer than six months to live the option to request prescription medication to control the timing and manner of their own death. In order to exercise this option, a terminally ill patient would have to request the medication personally at three different times. The patient would also have to get a second opinion regarding diagnosis and prognosis, and then wait 15 days before getting the prescription. Only the patient would be allowed to self-administer the medicine.

The bill is modeled on laws in Oregon and Washington states. Several expert witnesses are scheduled to testify to the committee.

The bill has 11 sponsors in the Vermont Senate, and supporters are hopeful that the Judiciary Committee will bring the bill to the Senate floor for consideration. The full text of the bill as introduced can be read here: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/bills/Intro/S-103.pdf.

“The strong majority of Vermonters’ view this as a personal liberty issue,” Adam Necrason, a lobbyist representing Patient Choices at End of Life Vermont, said. “We hope lawmakers will be swayed by the facts proven by the law’s extensive track record in Oregon, not the fears portrayed by some opponents.”

“We think that the legislature is ready to support a bill that has been supported for years by a strong majority of Vermonters,” Patient Choices President Dick Walters explained. “We believe that if given the chance to vote, Senators will reflect the voice of the people.”

“We see a path to passage,” Necrason said. “We think the vote is close and the facts matter, and in the end, it’s about representing constituents.”

The Judiciary Committee schedule can be viewed here: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/schedule/frame.cfm?CommitteeMeetingID=10450

A detailed summary of the bill is available here: http://www.patientchoices.org/wordpress/wp-content/dwdbillfacts.pdf. Continue reading →

Published in the Rutland Herald
March 12, 2012
SHERYL RAPEE-ADAMS and CHRIS ADAMS, Rutland
We support Vermont’s Death with Dignity bill. We thank Sen. Dick McCormack for his OpEd, “Giving terminal patients a choice” (Feb. 19, 2012), and urge Vermont’s senators to support this bill.
In our marriage, every day for as long as we have, we want each other to have the best life possible. Neither of us could bear it if the other was prevented from making their own choices and controlling their own life. [...]
Continue reading →

Full post at Blurt: The Seven Days Staff Blog
Posted by Andy Bromage on March 08, 2012 at 01:47 PM

Since it was introduced last year, a bill that would give terminally-ill Vermonters the right to voluntarily end their own lives has gone nowhere. “An Act Relating to Patient Choice and Control at End of Life” — bill number S. 103 — was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and, despite vigorous lobbying from supporters, had not gotten a hearing.

Next week, it finally will.

State Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) told Seven Days today the Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, will review the bill on Tuesday, March 13 and take three hours of testimony on Wednesday, March 14, to hear from the main groups for and against the legislation. [...] Continue reading →

Full article at oregonlive.com February 29, 2012, By Anne Saker, The Oregonian The doctor’s hands can suddenly knock a bowl of granola to the floor. The doctor’s hands put up a fight when he brushes his teeth. What’s really frustrating … Continue reading →

• You can park on the streets in Monptpelier for $.75/hour, but you’ll have to re-feed the meter every two hours. Some lots, like the one behind the Capital Plaza, are metered and you can get a slip that will allow you to park for any amount of time from a machine in the lot.
• See a small map of parking near the State House here.
• There is also a free shuttle service that runs through Montpelier, learn more here.

Continue reading →

Published in the Rutland Herald
Sen. Dick McCormack
Published: February 19, 2012

It’s striking that opponents of patient control of dying never respond to the argument that end-of-life decisions should be made by dying people themselves rather than the government. This argument deserves a response, but opponents rely on peripheral arguments, avoiding the central issues of freedom and compassion.
[...]
Continue reading →

From the Death with Dignity National Center: At long last! Peter Richardson’s acclaimed documentary, How to Die in Oregon, is now available on DVD. For about a year, we’ve received inquiries from people all over the world about how they … Continue reading →

2/7/2012 – Barre-Montpelier Times Argus
Ann T. Stone, Montpelier

[...] Shouldn’t a person’s choices about the end of his or her life be their own? And shouldn’t their decisions be free of government interference? The answer to both is yes. I’m a nonagenarian (90-plus) and statistics suggest that I will be facing these decisions sooner than most. [...]
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Susie Steimle – 02/03/2012 – Video and transcript at WCAX

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Susie Steimle – 02/02/2012 – Video and transcript at WCAX

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Susie Steimle – 02/01/2012 – Video and transcript at WCAX
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1/27/12 – Vermont News Guide
Doris Bass, Bondville
[...] The Death With Dignity bill would allow a person with a terminal illness to received medical assistance in ending his life at the time of his/her choosing. As a young child I watched my father die a long and lingering and excruciatingly painful death. A few years ago I saw my son linger on for months, not in pain– but not living either since he was medicated into semi-consciousness. I heard from both of them, with their awareness of impending death , how much they wished to be able to choose when it was time to pull the plug. [...]
Continue reading →

Read the full story on Zócalo, with over 540 comments from other doctors and people with moving end-of-life stories
Read “How doctors die, cont’d.”, a short follow-up from Sarah Kliff in a Washington Post blog

by Ken Murray – 11/30/11

[...] It’s not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently. [...]
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1/21/12 – Douglas Hart, Hartland
[...] Regarding death with dignity: Please let me have a choice when I reach the end of my life. I turn 81this month and am in good health. Chances are, I’ll die in my sleep or just keel over as I am working in my beloved woodland.
But should I find myself terminally ill, in great discomfort or of no use to myself or anyone and just using up valuable medical resources that could really benefit others, I want the comfort of knowing that I have some control over my death. [...]
Continue reading →

1/10/12 – Colleen Hammond, Perkinsville
[...] I ask our region’s state senators and representatives to consider our loved ones’ final request when making their decision regarding the Death with Dignity bill (H.274) [...]
Continue reading →

January 17 – Ted Danforth, Bethel
[...] I am sincerely hoping that acceptance of the bill for this privilege will pass this year. I am an older citizen who is in very good health and used to taking care of others.
I watched a dear lovely, person die in anguish after being a very active and progressive citizen. She put her youngsters through their educations with no help and was a generous and helping person. [...]
Continue reading →

Published in the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus 1/24/12
Cindy Cook – Adamant
My mother and former State Legislator, Alice Cook Bassett, was an inveterate writer of letters to the editor. It seems fitting that I write this letter for my mom in support of the Death with Dignity (H274) bill. [...]
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Watch it on the Vermont Public Television website

Discussion of Death with Dignity begins at 18:43.

Continue reading →

Wednesday, 01/04/12 7:34am
John Dillon
Listen on vpr.net

(Host) Former House Speaker Richard Mallary was well known as a politician who stuck to his convictions.

Mallary was a strong supporter of “death with dignity” legislation. In the past year, he also suffered from incurable cancer. Mallary’s family says he followed his convictions on this issue when he took his own life last fall.

As VPR’s John Dillon reports, the family hopes their story will help to humanize the debate. [...]
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vt.Buzz (Burlington Free Press)
Posted on January 4, 2012 by Terri Hallenbeck

Vermont Public Radio’s John Dillon reports that former U.S. Rep. Richard Mallary, who had terminal prostate cancer, ended his own life, in accordance with his support for “Death With Dignity” legislation. [...]
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Tuesday December 27, 2011
EDIE TSCHORN – Sandgate
Bennington Banner

As a cancer patient, the “Death with Dignity” legislation has tremendous meaning to me. Generally, we don’t think about spending time planning or preparing for our ill health or death. It is a difficult topic. I feel very strongly that I have a right to have a say in my health care and the procedures that can and will be done to me. [...]

Continue reading →

By Dustin Hankinson Missoula, MT
Posted July 20, 2011
on naplesnews.com

The recent essay “Only Dignified When Dead?” by Stephen Mikochick of the Ave Maria School of Law makes a number of false claims and inaccurate assessments about aid in dying that I, an American living with a disability and supporter of Death with Dignity, take issue with. [...]

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A Death of One’s Own
2011-12-16
Peter Singer
Full Article on Project Syndicate

PRINCETON – Dudley Clendinen, a writer and journalist, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a terminal degenerative illness. In The New York Times earlier this year, he wrote movingly both of his current enjoyment of his life, and of his plan to end it when, as he put it, “the music stops – when I can’t tie my bow tie, tell a funny story, walk my dog, talk with Whitney, kiss someone special, or tap out lines like this.” [...]

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Now you can buy this award-winning documentary, following the lives of Oregonians grappling with terminal illness and the Death with Dignity law in effect there.

Watch the trailer and order here

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Bennington Banner
Tuesday December 20, 2011
G. RICHARD DUNDAS, MD – Bennington
[...] The Vermont Death with Dignity bill (H.274 and S.103) is directed only to terminally ill Vermonters. It addresses mentally competent adults without clinical depression who are dying and who see no benefit in “lingering on.” There are factors other than pain that might make a patient’s life intolerable. Some patients might wish to have the right to end their own life on their own terms.

There is no dignity or honor for a physician to impose his or her values and beliefs on a dying Vermonter. Every Vermont patient should have the right to make his/her own choice. Likewise, every Vermont doctor should have the right to choose whether he/she would honor the patient’s request. Both of these are guaranteed in the new legislation. [...]
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Rutland Herald
12/17/11
RICHARD CANDLISH
Florence
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December, 2011
Michael O’Neill – Shoreham
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Bennington Banner
11/30/11
Bruce Nash, MD – Shaftsbury

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Published on December 2, 2011
Le Magazine de L’île des Soeurs
Read at the Westmount Examiner
[...] Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands openly and legally authorize assisted suicides. The state of Oregon has had a physician-assisted suicide law since 1997. Since the “Death with Dignity Act” was enacted there, there’s been no evidence that the elderly or the disabled have suffered from abuse or exploitation. There are simply too many safeguards in place.

According to a recent article by The Ottawa Citizen’s Dan Gardner, a 2009 summary of research by Dutch scientists concluded that “there’s no evidence for a higher frequency of euthanasia among the elderly, people with low educational status, the poor, the physically disabled or chronically ill, minors, people with psychiatric illnesses including depression, or racial and ethnic minorities, compared with background population.” [...] Continue reading →

Thanks to RETN (Public Access TV in South Burlington) for posting this video of Nancy Niedzielski’s talk. Watch it here and share it! The video is available to most PEG TV stations in VT; please take 5 minutes to request … Continue reading →

2011-11-03 / Letters
CHRISTINE BARNES, Northfield
Northfield News
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October 20, 2011
Hedi Ballantyne, Montpelier
Montpelier Bridge
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October 10, 2011 | Editorial
By Angelo Lynn
Full Article on Addison Independent website

[...]This is not an issue of right versus wrong. Both sides have legitimate and defensible positions that can be discussed in a non-partisan and rational way. But we also recognize it is an issue that tugs hard at the heart and is fraught with emotional overtones.

That said, our hope is that the Legislature will chose to address the issue this session and focus the discussion on one over-arching premise: that each Vermonter has the right to determine how they live their last days when facing a terminal illness.[...]

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Listen at the Mark Johnson show blog – Part 1 – Part 2 Continue reading →

October 10, 2011 | Middlebury
By John Flowers
Full article on Addison Independent website

[...]“I was a woman on a mission,” Niedzielski said of her efforts. “I did anything and everything that they would let me do.”

While she has fulfilled her husband’s wish, Niedzielski has not stopped promoting death-with-dignity legislation. She has now joined the effort to get such a law passed in Vermont, where there are two bills (H.274 and S.103) waiting for legislative action during the 2011 session.[...]
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by Dirk Van Susteren | October 6, 2011
Full Article at VT Digger

[...]

A political novice, Niedzielski quickly grasped the political ropes. She said she learned how to collect signatures, recruit volunteers and make a compelling case at public appearances. The measure passed, she said, with 60 percent of the vote.

“It was the happiest day of my life,”said Niedzielski

[...] Continue reading →

Bennington Banner
Friday September 30, 2011
RICHARD L. GUERRERO, M.D. – Bennington
On the Banner website Continue reading →

Patient Choices Vermont is saddened by the loss of long-time and valued member of our Advisory Committee, Dick Mallary. Dick was a passionate champion for civil rights and social justice and a dedicated advocate of Death With Dignity legislation. For those of us who knew him and followed his work, he represented the best of politics, where party affiliation gave way to guiding principles of right and wrong. Our movement and our state is less for his loss but will forever be touched and inspired by his example and his spirit.

Burlington Free Press article, 9/28/11 Continue reading →

Valley News
9/23/11
Emme Pedinelli
Read it here Continue reading →

by: Sue Prent
Thu Sep 29, 2011
Full article on Green Mountain Daily
[...]Compassionate issues of choice are not popular in much of the country these days, and “Death With Dignity” is no exception. Patient Choices Vermont has its work cut out for. If the Vermont legislature is to be persuaded to provide this humane choice to all of us, persistent myths must be dispelled and replaced with a clear understanding of the protections that are possible under the law.[...] Continue reading →

Valley News
9/13/11
JILL TANE
Quechee Continue reading →

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
August 30, 2011
Full Article Continue reading →

07 July 2011
Taylor, Lynne P. MD
Full Article

Over my years as a neurologist and neuro‐oncologist, I have encountered patients who have requested “death with dignity” (DWD) — the right to autonomy in determining the time of death, freedom from pain, and release from a life of limited choices because of disability or fatigue. Continue reading →

Full Transcript of the July chat hosted by Death With Dignity National Center with special guest Dr. Kate Morris, the oncologist featured in the HBO documentary “How to Die In Oregon.”

By DUDLEY CLENDINEN
Published: July 9, 2011
Full Article
…But we don’t talk about how to die. We act as if facing death weren’t one of life’s greatest, most absorbing thrills and challenges. Believe me, it is. This is not dull. But we have to be able to see doctors and machines, medical and insurance systems, family and friends and religions as informative — not governing — in order to be free… Continue reading →

From the Death with Dignity National Center: How to Die in Oregon premiered on HBO yesterday and is now available on-demand until June 19th. Many people caught the documentary as it wowed film festivals throughout the country. We’re thrilled to … Continue reading →

Where: Twitter hashtag #htdio (How To Die In Oregon) When: May 27th at 1:00pm US Eastern Time How: Sign up on Twitter Follow @PatientChoices Log in to Twitter.com or your favorite Twitter client to join in the conversation on Friday, … Continue reading →

By Bob Kinzel, Produced by Ric Cengeri
Friday, 04/22/11
“I’m a big supporter of Death with Dignity…The Oregon bill is the model we used for our bill…I would like to see it passed in VT…next year. I’d very much like to be the governor who signs it into law.” Continue reading →

1. Given the aforementioned protections would you favor passage of legislation allowing physician assisted suicide/death with dignity in Vermont?
answered question 604
skipped question 6

yes 58.8% 355
no 29.8% 180
neutral 11.4% 69 Continue reading →

…Monica Knorr of Manchester is a member of the board of directors for Patient Choices Vermont, the group promoting the legislation before the Vermont legislature and sponsored Eighmey and Babbot’s talk at the library on March 2. The law would give an option to people who have a terminal diagnosis, enabling them to control their death at the end of life. The most misunderstood part of the bill is that the outcome is “legislating suicide,” she said.

“In our view, it’s not suicide but giving a right to people who are already actively dying,” she said. “It’s not dictating behavior; it’s enabling people who want to make a choice to be able to decide that without breaking the law.” … Continue reading →

…The discussion became heated a few times as opponents read pieces of the Hippocratic Oath. There was discussion of palliative care and pain medication, several long-time hospice nurses vehemently shook their heads and vocally disagreed that pain medication, even in high dosage, is adequate in many cases. It was an evening fraught with passionate opinion on both sides.
The bill in Vermont is receiving more support than it has in the past, both in the Legislature and in the general public. It has the support of Gov. Shumlin and Sen. Bill Doyle’s unofficial annual Town Meeting Day poll shows a majority of voting Vermonters supporting the measure…. Continue reading →

…3. Should Vermont legalize physician-assisted suicide?
Yes: 1906 (53%)
No: 1194 (33%)
Unsure: 464 (13%)… Continue reading →

…“My practice, and I think every doctor’s practice, is about helping people live well, for as long as possible,” Barnard said. “But we also must realize that all life comes to an end, and that dying well is just as important as living well.”

She believes Death with Dignity legislation could provide another option for some, terminally ill patients who are suffering in spite of the best possible support system…. Continue reading →

“Death With Dignity” Legislation Raises Renewed Debate Tuesday, 03/08/11 Samantha Fields – Colchester, VT Transcript and Audio Here

By Tommy Gardner March 9, 2011 Download PDF

Download them here

…The event was sponsored by Patient Choices Vermont and featured David Babbott, a board member of that group in support of H.274, and George Eighmey, who as an Oregon state legislator in 1997 supported the successful adoption of similar legislation in his state — the first in the nation.

“It’s not our goal that they use the law,” said Eighmey, “Our goal is to have the full range of options for this individual who is facing the end of life.” … Continue reading →

Ross Brown, The Dartmouth Staff March 3, 2011 Former Dartmouth religion professor Hans Penner, who was recently diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, is a self-proclaimed strong advocate of “death with dignity” legislation currently under consideration by Vermont legislators. The legislation … Continue reading →

Thanks, Vermonters, for a successful tour and interesting events. Continue reading →

…Hans Penner isn’t ready to die just yet. The retired Dartmouth College religion professor has another book he wants to finish writing first. But, with the diagnosis of stage 4 inoperable lung cancer he got last fall, Penner knows it’s coming. He just wants to be in control when it does…. Continue reading →

…“This is not a Republican issue, it’s not a Democrat issue, it’s not a liberal issue or a conservative issue,” said Mallary, who supports the bill. “If I have to characterize it at all I would say it may be a libertarian issue. It is the right of the individual to make decisions for themselves.”… Continue reading →

…Aaron Loomis described how his father, age 67, died of esophageal cancer. When his father went to his last doctor’s appointment, he was told his only option was to stop eating. His family watched over him 24 hours a day for weeks as they waited for him to starve to death.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever done is care for my father,” Loomis said. His father’s one wish was to end his own life. “My father should not have had to ask the government, he should not have had to ask the church, nor should he have had to ask anyone to make that choice.”… Continue reading →

…”I don’t think it hurts our state to have the conversation about kind of treatment do you want if you are terminally ill, your doctor knows you are going to die, you are in a lot of pain,” said Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vermont. “How do you want to spend your last four or five days?”… Continue reading →

…Former House Speaker Richard Mallory supports the bill because he says it’s an issue of patient choice.

(Mallory) “If I had to characterize it all I would say maybe it’s a Libertarian issue. It is the right of individuals to make decisions for themselves. That’s the fundamental reason that I support it.”… Continue reading →

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In a recent poll conducted by Zogby International, Vermonters indicated strong support for Death with Dignity Legislation. Poll results show that 64% of Vermonters favor such legislation, while only 26% oppose it. View poll results here (.pdf)

…Backers of allowing terminally ill patients to end their own lives with a doctor’s help say they’ll mount a push this year to get “right-to-die” legislation passed in Vermont, now that they have a governor who supports it. Opponents including the Roman Catholic Diocese and advocates for the disabled are expected to mount fight it vigorously… Continue reading →

…Supporters and opponents of right-to-die legislation need first of all to listen to the concerns of each side. They are likely to recognize that love and compassion are at the root of the debate on both sides… Continue reading →

…Unlike in past years, when it failed to take hold in Vermont, “death with dignity” now has an important ally: the governor. Newly sworn-in Gov. Peter Shumlin pledged support for right-to-die legislation during the 2010 campaign, and, as a state senator the year before, he cosponsored S.144, “An Act Relating to Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life.”… Continue reading →

…Later this month, lawmakers in the Vermont House of Representatives will introduce a near replica of the Death with Dignity Act passed by Oregon legislators 13 years ago…With a supportive speaker in a Democratically controlled House and a vocal proponent in the governor’s office, [Patient Choices Vermont], which has a 6,000-person mailing list, is prepared to launch a concerted lobbying effort on the bill’s behalf… Continue reading →