Last March, I reported on a public forum on Death With Dignity, hosted in St. Albans by Patient Choices Vermont.  The speaker was George Eighmey, an Oregon attorney whose efforts contributed significantly to making Oregon the first state in the country with a law allowing this choice.  

Mr. Eighmey presented a compelling account of the Oregon experience, and explained how H.274 (then under consideration by the Vermont House) went even further than the Oregon law in providing additional safeguards against errors and abuses.

The struggle to enact legislation in Vermont to allow this choice for terminally ill patients continues.  Once again, Patient Choices Vermont is hosting four public forums on the topic around the state. This time, the guest speaker is Nancy Niedzielski who worked for passage of Washington State’s “Death With Dignity Law.”

Compassionate issues of choice are not popular in much of the country these days, and “Death With Dignity” is no exception. Patient Choices Vermont has its work cut out for.  If the Vermont legislature is to be persuaded to provide this humane choice to all of us, persistent myths must be dispelled and replaced with a clear understanding of the protections that are possible under the law.

If you can make it to one of these public meetings, your mere presence,and the information you take away with you, can do much to help the cause.

FERRISBURGH – Town Hall – Tuesday, October 4, 2011 – 6:30 pm-8 pm

MONTPELIER – Pavilion Auditorium – Wed., October 5, 2011 – 11:45 am-1:15 pm

WILDER – Wilder Center – Wed., October 5, 2011 – 6:30 pm-8 pm

DANVILLE – Town Hall – Thursday, October 6, 2011 – 6:30 pm-8 pm

For more information go to http://patientchoices.org