Death with dignity: Terminally ill cancer patient Lynda Bluestein SUES Vermont over rule on assisted suicide
BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT: A 75-year-old terminally ill patient is suing Vermont over its residency rule. The rule only allows its own residents to take advantage of the state law that allows people who are terminally ill to undergo assisted suicide in order to end their lives. According to Lynda Bluestein's lawsuit, such a requirement of exclusive Vermont residency violates the US Constitution.
Suffering from terminal fallopian tube cancer, Bluestein wishes to opt for state-supported suicide. In Vermont, physicians are allowed to legally prescribe lethal medication to residents of the state if they suffer from incurable illnesses and have a life expectancy of fewer than six months under The Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act (Act 39).
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According to Bluestein, her life expectancy is not yet six months, but she has witnessed her mother die of the disease. This is also her own third relapse with cancer, making her chances of survival next to nothing. This is why she desired to opt for Vermont's state-sanctioned facilities that assist suicide. She says that she cannot relocate to Vermont but insists she should be legally allowed to use the state's death with dignity law as a visitor and receive the same treatment in her own state of Connecticut.
The lawsuit has been filed by Compassion and Choices, a non-profit organization that is working to enhance patient autonomy and individual choice at the end of life. This also includes providing access to medical aid in dying. They have filed the lawsuit in the US District Court in Burlington. Their chief argument is that the residency requirement violates the commerce, equal protection, privileges, and immunities clauses of the US Constitution.
Bluestein has also been joined by Dr Diana Barnard of Middlebury, Vermont, who mentions in the lawsuit that she wishes to be able to offer the option of assisted suicide to her terminally ill patients residing in the state of New York. Currently, NY and Connecticut have no laws that allow physicians to prescribe medically approved end-of-life options. They seek the court's order to block the residency provision and allow visitors to undergo the procedure.
In an interview with The Daily Mail, the 75-year-old cancer patient said, "I never wanted you to see me like this. I don´t want my children to see me like that, either." Wanting them to remember her with happiness, she added, "I'd like their last memories of me to be as strong as possible, to interact with them and not in an adult diaper curled up in a fetal position, drugged out of my mind."