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Citing Personal Story, Vermont Governor Makes Assisted Suicide Law Permanent

When Gov. Peter Shumlin signed physician-assisted suicide into law in 2013, he had no idea a member of a family he has known most of his life would be one of the first Vermonters to use the option.

When Gov. Peter Shumlin signed physician-assisted suicide into law in 2013, he had no idea a member of a family he has known most of his life would be one of the first Vermonters to use the option.

 

Shumlin knew Maggie Lake of Putney had been battling cancer for several years. When Lake died, the governor left a message to convey his condolences to her adult kids, Hayden and Norah.

 

"I got this text back from Hayden," Shumlin recalled. "He just said: 'Thank you so much for your support. She was an irreplaceable mother. She will be deeply missed.'"

 

Then, Hayden Lake added: "I also want to thank you deeply for Vermont's death with dignity law. It allowed my mother to leave the world without prolonged pain and suffering."

 

"I had no idea at that point that Maggie had used Vermont's death with dignity law," Shumlin said.

 

The governor made the comments Wednesday during a bill-signing ceremony at South Burlington's Healthy Living Market. Maggie Lake's sister, Katy Lesser, owns the market.

 

When Act 39 passed in 2013, certain provisions, such as a mandatory waiting period, were scheduled to sunset July 1, 2016, as a compromise with detractors.

 

The Legislature acted last month to make the provisions permanent with passage of S. 108.

 

Vermont Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act protects physicians from prosecution when they prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally-ill patients who have asked for the prescription and have a prognosis of death in six months or less. Oregon legalized the practice in 1998. Washington and Vermont has since followed suit. Vermont is the only state to pass the law legislatively.

 

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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