On Thursday, a cancer patient from Connecticut sued Vermont for allowing only its own citizens to benefit from state legislation that permits terminally sick individuals to terminate their own lives.
In a case filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Lynda Bluestein, 75, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who has terminal fallopian tube cancer, and Dr. Diana Barnard, of Middlebury, Vermont, claim that Vermont’s residence requirement is unconstitutional.
In Vermont, persons with fatal illnesses who are likely to pass away within six months are eligible for the prescription of deadly drugs by doctors.
In an interview on Thursday, Bluestein said that while she is not yet at the stage when her life expectancy is fewer than six months, this is her third battle with cancer and she has seen the death of her mother as a result of the illness.
I never wanted you to see me like this, she said. I also don’t want my kids to see me like that,” she said.
“I’d want to engage with kids and not be in an adult diaper curled up in a foetal posture, drugged out of my mind, for their final memories of me to be as powerful as possible.”
In the complaint, Barnard said that she want to be able to provide her New York-based patients with the end-of-life choice.
The two ladies have fought for the subject in Connecticut and New York, where there are presently no laws allowing for medically assisted suicide.
The lawsuit asserts that the residency requirement infringes on the commerce, equal protection, and privileges and immunities clauses of the U.S. Constitution as well as the mission statement of Compassion and Choices, an organisation that “expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey.”
Bluestein and Barnard are requesting that the residence requirement not be enforced by the court.
The Vermont case, according to Compassion and Choices, is the second in the country to challenge such laws’ residency restrictions. The organisation said that there is a residency restriction in ten of the eleven jurisdictions around the country that have legalised medical assistance to help individuals terminate their lives.
The group reached a settlement with a related case in Oregon in March, which led to the suspension of the state’s residency requirement.
Questions were sent to the attorney general’s office by the office of Vermont Governor Phil Scott, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
According to Mary Beerworth of the Vermont Right to Life Committee, which opposes assisted suicide, Vermont may become a destination for terminally ill individuals looking to end their lives if the challenge is successful.
Bluestein is a former community health worker who specialised in working with women and children. She received a cancer diagnosis in March 2021.
She was given between six and three years to live at the time and is now receiving therapy.
In a Connecticut survivor group, Bluestein claimed to have met a lady with terminal lung cancer who had relocated to Vermont to take advantage of the state’s legislation.
Bluestein highlighted that her friend gained residence in Vermont and passed away this year with the assistance of the legislation.
“Every other day or so, she’s reminding me, she said, ‘Don’t wait till the end,’” Bluestein said.
Bluestein said that relocating to Vermont would be too difficult.
In accordance with Vermont’s Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act, which was approved in 2013, a patient may request a prescription for a drug that will expedite death if it has been determined that they have less than six months to live.
Oral and written petitions, witnesses, and a second medical opinion are all necessary in the procedure.
It is not necessary for doctors and pharmacists to take part in the actual suicide.
The Vermont Health Department reported in January that 116 persons used the statute between May 31, 2013, the day it went into force, and June 30, 2021. 77% of the population had cancer.