House Human Services passes out 'Death with Dignity' bill to the Judiciary Committee

by Andrew Stein April 23, 2013 vtdigger.org The House Human Services Committee passed a bill out to the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that would give physicians immunity from disciplinary action for prescribing a lethal dose of medication to a terminally ill patient, if the doctor followed strict procedures and if the patient requested the medication.
Unlike the Senate, the House Human Services Committee’ s 7-4 vote was split along party lines. Reps. Anne Donahue of Northfield, Lynn Batchelor of Derby Line, Thomas Burditt of West Rutland, and Francis ‘ Topper’ McFaun of Barre Town all caucus with the Republican Party and all voted against the bill.
‘ I’ m very much against this bill ‘¦ I don’ t think the government should be in the business of granting absolution for killing somebody, and that’ s pretty much what this bill does,’ Batchelor said. ‘ I spoke to an oncologist yesterday ‘¦ and he said, ‘ If you think there are not going to be abuses with this bill, no matter how many roadblocks you have, you’ re sadly mistaken. You’ re working with human beings ‘¦ and there are not enough safeguards in any bill to make this a good bill.’ ‘
When the Senate took a similar 20-plus-page bill and stripped it down to one page, senators of all political stripes stood strongly for and against the procedure-heavy language, which is based on an Oregon law. Although the Senate passed a much different version of the bill, House Human Services went back to the Oregon-based language that the Senate Health and Welfare Committee originally recommended to the Senate.
The seven Human Services Committee members, who voted for the bill, caucus with the Democrats ‘ including the committee’ s Vice Chair Rep. Sandy Haas, who is a Progressive from Rochester.
Rep. Patsy French, D-Randolph, told the committee that she thinks the bill is sound and gives Vermonters greater choice at the end of their lives.
‘ This committee has worked very hard on advanced directives, palliative care and hospice care ‘¦ and to know when is an appropriate time to use it,’ she said. ‘ I think this adds one more step many Vermonters would like to have as a choice, whether they use it or not ‘¦ (and) I think it has good protections. I honestly don’ t believe somebody will be able to be coerced into doing this. There are so many people checking along the way. This bill does what I would like have done to me.’
The bill is moving onto the House Judiciary Committee, where on Friday committee Chair Rep. Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, expects a bill to pass out to the floor.