BOSTON (CNS) – Opponents of legislation that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in Massachusetts hope the commonwealth will follow Vermont’s lead and kill the measure.
By an 18-11 vote April 12, Vermont senators defeated a proposal to legalize assisted suicide in the state.
“We’re obviously elated that the Senate in Vermont did the right thing, not only to defeat this onerous bill but also to defeat the political shenanigans that were going on to try to get this bill passed. The whole thing was politics at its worst,” said Kristian Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
First introduced in 2011, Vermont’s Patient Choice and Control at End of Life legislation failed to make it out of committee by the 2012 legislative deadline. The Health and Welfare Committee attached the bill to an anti-tanning bill.