Profession
Vermont House votes down assisted suicide bill
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 9, 2007
The Vermont House of Representatives in March voted 82-63 to defeat a measure that would have allowed physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medicines for their terminally ill patients. The vote came after four hours of emotionally charged debate on the Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life bill, patterned after Oregon's Death With Dignity Act.
"This means that the issue of physician-assisted suicide is dead in Vermont for the remainder of this biennial legislative session," said Robert Orr, MD, president of the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare, which opposes assisted suicide. Dr. Orr said in an e-mail to supporters that he hoped the vote would deter advocates from reintroducing legislation in 2009.
The Denver-based activist group Compassion & Choices, which supported the bill, said in an unattributed statement that "the 'no' votes keep aid in dying covert, unregulated and unsafe" in Vermont.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/04/09/prbf0409.htm.