Improvements to Act 39 are Moving Forward

Monitoring how Act 39 works for Vermonters who want to consider medical aid in dying is a key mission at Patient Choices Vermont (PCV). In recent emails we have discussed some of the challenges they face, especially in connection with the law's approval process. As Dee Allen, a recent recipient of medical aid in dying, says:
 
“The timeline requirements can make it so that you don’t have access to the law.”
 
Following a comprehensive review over the past nine months, PCV shared our findings with key legislators who have now introduced S.74 to modify Act 39 in important ways. The amendment would:

• allow telemedicine for requests under Act 39, as is permitted in all other states that have similar laws,
• improve the Act 39 request timeline, again in line with practices in other states,
• and make the law's immunity provisions explicit and clear. 

These improvements can be achieved while retaining the comprehensive system of strong safeguards already in place under Act 39.

Please see our Act 39 and S.74 Summary for a greater explanation.

To bring real lives into the picture, we have completed another short video. Many thanks to Dee Allen and her family for sharing her story just a few days before she died in December, 2020.

If you haven't yet seen the 5-minute video of Karen Oelschlaeger, please spend a few minutes to watch it as well on the Videos Page of our website.

Thank You and Congratulations: 

After many years as Co-chair and then Chair of the PCV Board, Neil Mickenberg has stepped down. PCV will continue to have the benefit of Neil’s experience and counsel as he has been named to the PCV Advisory Committee. Many thanks to Neil for partnering with me and the board to establish this organization as a strong education-oriented non-profit in the years following the passage of Act 39.

Congratulations to Toni Kaeding, who was elected Board Chair. Toni brings a wealth of experience as a retired nurse and nursing educator, and as the “voice of PCV,” answering calls from doctors, hospice nurses, patients, and families on our hotline for the past several years.

Welcome also, Samantha Stevens to the PCV Advisory Board. We met Samantha when her father, Eric Stevens, used medical aid in dying in 2016. A resident of the Northeast Kingdom, Samantha is committed to the rights of patients to determine their own end-of-life transitions. She hopes to help ensure that all people have access to the knowledge and resources needed to make these very personal choices in their own lives.  

Across the Country:

Congratulations to the sponsors and advocates for medical-aid-in-dying legislation who achieved passage of a new law in the New Mexico House of Representatives last week. The bill now moves to the Senate. Local New Mexico supporters have already consulted with PCV about how to plan for implementation. Similar legislation is pending in a number of states across the country.

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​Thank you as always for your interest and support. As Dee Allen says in our new video,

“The gift is that I get to go out while I can still tell my children that I love them.” 

Your support helps make the creation of these poignant videos and all of PCV’s work possible. At a time when the legislature and much of the medical system are working hard via remote meetings, all of our best communication skills are needed to inform and provide a true sense of how aid in dying is having a profound impact on Vermonter’s lives.

Click to Support Patient Choices Vermont.

Many thanks.

Sincerely,
Betsy Walkerman, President

Patient Choices Vermont
email: info@patientchoices.org
phone: 802.448.0542