Vermont allows nonresidents to use assisted suicide.

Vermont Breaks Barriers: Nonresidents Now Allowed to Use Assisted Suicide

Vermont has made history by becoming the first state to remove the residency requirement for medically assisted suicide. This means that terminally ill patients from outside the state can now travel to Vermont to end their lives. The state is one of only ten that allow medical professionals to help end the lives of terminally ill patients, and this new law will allow outsiders to access the procedure.

Grateful Advocacy Groups Respond

Compassion & Choices, a nonprofit advocacy organization, expressed gratitude to Vermont lawmakers for recognizing that a state border shouldn’t determine whether someone dies peacefully or in agony. “Patients routinely travel to other states to utilize the best healthcare options. There is no rational reason they shouldn’t be able to travel to another state to access medical aid in dying if the state they live in doesn’t offer it,” said Kim Callinan, the organization’s president and CEO.

Safeguards in Place

Vermont’s law includes several safeguards to ensure that patients are not coerced into using irreversible lethal medication. For example, the patient must be capable of making and communicating a healthcare decision to a physician. Additionally, the patient must verbally express their desire to die on two separate occasions within a specific timeframe, and they must submit a document with the request. The document must also be signed by two people who can vouch that the patient was not coerced.

Breaking Down Barriers

Oregon, which also allows assisted suicide, agreed to stop enforcing the residency requirement in its assisted suicide law last year, but the state has not yet removed the requirement. Vermont’s new law is a significant step forward in breaking down barriers to end-of-life care for terminally ill patients.

Terminally ill patients from outside Vermont can now access medical aid in dying in the state, thanks to the removal of the residency requirement. This new law is a significant step forward in breaking down barriers to end-of-life care for terminally ill patients.