House Committee Hearing on S.74 Scheduled for 3/31/2022

We are pleased to announce that the Vermont House Committee on Human Services has scheduled a hearing on S.74 on Thursday, March 31 at 9:15 am. The Committee invited Dr. Diana Barnard; Kim Callinan, President of Compassion & Choices, and myself Betsy Walkerman, President of Patient Choices Vermont (PCV) to testify. We look forward to sharing our team's expertise with our legislators. You can listen live on March 31 or replay afterwards on the Vermont House Committee on Human Services YouTube Channel.
See below for how to contact your representatives.

VTDigger Op Ed:

Many thanks to Vermont Digger for publishing our Op Ed Walkerman & Callinan: Empowering patients at the end of life — S.74, co-authored by Betsy Walkerman and Kim Callinan. This article highlights the very personal aspects of end-of-life choice, and makes it clear how the S.74 changes can alleviate suffering.

News from Oregon - End of Residency Requirement:

Like Vermont and all the other states with medical aid in dying laws, Oregon law has required that the patient be a resident of their state. Yesterday that changed. As a result of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the residency provision, Oregon will no longer require a person to be an Oregon resident in order to qualify for medical aid in dying.
 
PCV will be studying the impact of this development on Act 39’s similar residency requirement.  

Contact your Representatives:
We've set up an easy way for you to contact your representatives in support of S.74. PCV has already provided the basic message (which you can easily edit with your own personal story or comments) at ContactMyPolitician.com. All you need to do is provide your address to see a display of your own specific legislative representatives. Select politicians listed as members of the State House and click Send Message. It's that easy.

Act 39 passed in 2013 largely because of the vast number of supporters like you who contacted your legislators when the bill was coming up for a vote. We need your help to show our legislators that Vermonters still care deeply about this issue. We hope you find it worth your time to invest a few minutes right now to help make end-of-life choice more accessible in Vermont.

Thank you so much!
Betsy Walkerman, President PCV