{"id":276776,"date":"2022-09-28T06:41:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T11:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=276776"},"modified":"2022-09-27T13:16:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T18:16:00","slug":"woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.<\/p>\n

Lynda Bluestein of Bridgeport, Connecticut, contends<\/a> that Vermont’s residency requirements for assisted suicide violate<\/a>\u00a0the Equal Protection, Commerce, and Privileges and Immunities clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Bluestein is joined in her suit by Vermont physician Dr. Diana Barnard. The duo is represented by Compassion and Choices, an advocacy organization that\u00a0\u201cexpands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those in favor of the lawsuit argue that assisted suicide is the only “medical” procedure that is limited by state boundaries.\u00a0\u201cWe believe that the residency requirements in all medical-aid-in-dying laws, as currently constructed, are unconstitutional,\u201d\u00a0Amitai Heller, senior staff attorney for Compassion & Choices told VT Digger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In March, Compassion and Choices challenged<\/a> a similar law in Oregon, which resulted in the state suspending its residency requirement.\u00a0Vermont law currently permits assisted suicide for state residents with a terminal illness who are expected to die in fewer than six months. Bluestein told the Associated Press<\/a> that she has terminal fallopian tube cancer. While doctors haven’t yet given her fewer than six months to live, she wants the ability to die when that does happen. Right now, she says that moving to Vermont would be too difficult.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Pro-euthanasia group wants to force religious medical facilities to commit assisted suicide<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI love my life; I don\u2019t want to die,\u201d Bluestein said in an interview with Vermont Public Radio. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to suffer at the end of my life. I\u2019d like to choose how my final days are going to look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary Beerworth of Vermont Right to Life told the Associated Press that she is worried that Vermont will become a destination for those seeking suicide should the lawsuit succeed.<\/p>\n

The concept of “death tourism” \u2014 which allows non-residents to travel to a state for the sole purpose of committing suicide \u2014 sets a dangerous precedent, in part because it dilutes the doctor-patient relationship that is so crucial to ensuring that ill patients get the care they need. When a sick person travels to a state with the sole intention of seeking suicide, they are more likely to find a doctor who will give them what they want. In contrast, a doctor who has a long-standing relationship with a patient is better able to offer palliative care when it’s needed.<\/p>\n

Laura Echevarria, a spokeswoman for National Right to Life, spoke of this following Oregon’s decision to drop its residency requirement.\u00a0\u201cThe hope is that doctors will continue to evaluate patients, but it certainly creates a situation where there could be more abuse of that law,” she told NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state. Lynda Bluestein of Bridgeport, Connecticut, contends that Vermont’s residency requirements for assisted suicide violate\u00a0the Equal Protection, Commerce, and Privileges and Immunities clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Bluestein is joined in her suit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":191100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[1303,4379,1756],"yoast_head":"\nWoman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-28T11:41:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-27T18:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/assisted-suicide-pills.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-28T11:41:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-27T18:16:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\"},\"wordCount\":478,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"assisted suicide\",\"residency\",\"Vermont\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Issues\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\",\"name\":\"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-28T11:41:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-27T18:16:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide","description":"A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide","og_description":"A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2022-09-28T11:41:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-27T18:16:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/assisted-suicide-pills.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide","datePublished":"2022-09-28T11:41:10+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-27T18:16:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/"},"wordCount":478,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["assisted suicide","residency","Vermont"],"articleSection":["Issues","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/","name":"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-09-28T11:41:10+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-27T18:16:00+00:00","description":"A Connecticut woman is suing the state of Vermont because its current laws prevent her from qualifying for assisted suicide in the state.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/woman-sues-vermont-residency-requirement-assisted-suicide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Woman sues Vermont over its residency requirement for assisted suicide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276776"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":276841,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276776\/revisions\/276841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}