May 20, 2013 – Vermont Becomes Fourth State to Allow Physician-Assisted Suicide

Vermont’s Governor Peter Shumlin signed the “End of Life Choices” bill into law, which is the first time physician-assisted suicide has been made legal in the United States via the legislative process. Like the laws in Oregon and Washington, Vermont’s law implements safeguards to govern physicians who are now allowed to prescribe death-inducing medication to terminally ill residents of the state. However, those safeguards expire on July 1, 2016 at which point physician-assisted suicide will be overseen by professional practice standards already in place to govern physician conduct.