Vermont allows non-residents to use suicide law

Republican Gov. Phil Scott signed a bill Tuesday to remove the residency requirement from Vermont’s medically assisted suicide law. Vermont is one of 10 states that allow medically assisted suicide but the first to allow terminally ill people from out of state to participate. Oregon does not enforce that requirement but has not removed it from its law. Vermont had already reached a settlement with a Connecticut woman with terminal cancer that allowed her to use the law.

What are the other requirements? The law has several safeguards, including requiring patients to be able to communicate their desire themselves and signing several documents in front of disinterested witnesses over a certain period. But Vermont Right to Life Executive Director Mary Hahn Beerworth said those are insufficient to protect vulnerable people from coercion. She’s also concerned about liability if the drugs fail to end a patient’s life.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in Vitals on people working to stop the progress of assisted suicide in the United States.