History is made: Vermont 3rd USA State to pass a law on death with dignity

Vermont is the third state to pass a Death with Dignity law through legislation! Lawmakers in Vermont supported the rights of terminally ill individuals and passed a Vermont law designed on the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts—the first one of its kind on the east coast.

With Governor Peter Shumlin’s signature today, Vermont took a historic step forward by becoming the first state to pass a law modeled on the groundbreaking Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts through a legislative process.

The new Vermont law emulates the Oregon and Washington Death with Dignity Acts and provides a process for mentally competent, terminally ill patients to achieve a peaceful death by ingesting medication provided by their physician. This new law, and all of the information shared throughout the multi-year effort to pass it, has directly changed the national conversation around death, dying, and assisted death.

Thanks to Death with Dignity National Center – see their reports here and here.