At least 26 people have traveled to Vermont to die, representing nearly 25% of the reported assisted deaths in the state from May 2023 through this June.
In the 18 months after Francine Milano was diagnosed with a recurrence of the ovarian cancer she thought she'd beaten 20 years ago, she traveled twice from her home in Pennsylvania to Vermont . She went not to ski, hike, or leaf-peep, but to arrange to die.
But Vermont lifted its residency requirement in May 2023, followed by Oregon 2 months later. (Montana effectively allows aid in dyingDespite the limited options and the challenges — such as finding doctors in a new state, figuring out where to die, and traveling when too sick to walk to the next room, let alone climb into a car — dozens have made the trek to the two states that have opened their doors to terminally ill nonresidents seeking aid in dying.
State legislatures impose those restrictions as safeguards — to balance the rights of patients seeking aid in dying with a legislative imperative not to pass laws that are harmful to anyone, said Peg Sandeen, CEO of the groupDiana Barnard, a Vermont palliative care physician, said some patients cannot even come for their appointments."They end up being sick or not feeling like traveling, so there's rescheduling involved," she said.
The waiting period is standard to ensure that a person has what Barnard calls"thoughtful time to contemplate the decision," although she said most have done that long before. Some states have shortened the period or, like Oregon, have a waiver option. Milano hasn't gotten to the point where she needs to find a place to take the meds and end her life. In fact, because she had a relatively healthy year after her first trip to Vermont, she let her 6-month approval period lapse.
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