After passionate debate that stretched over six hours, the Vermont Senate took
the first step toward passing a bill that would allow terminally ill patients
to end their lives with the help of a doctor’s prescription.
The Vermont Senate voted Tuesday afternoon to advance legislation that
allows terminally ill patients to end their lives with prescription
drugs. A number of senators who were undecided on the issue made up
their minds to
support it over the weekend.
The Senate is set to debate a
bill next week allowing terminally ill patients to get a doctor’s prescription
to end their lives. The bill was moved to the full
Senate with an unusual vote by the Judiciary Committee.
Doctor Ira Byock argues that we need to seriously shift our political
and cultural thinking about end of life care. The Dartmouth-Hitchcock
physician is one of the leading thinkers on palliative medicine.