A woman from Connecticut advocated for wider availability of Vermont’s law permitting terminally ill individuals to obtain medication to end their lives. She passed away in Vermont on Thursday, and her husband described it as a “comfortable and peaceful” experience, fulfilling her wishes.

Lynda Bluestein, who was suffering from terminal cancer, chose to end her life by taking prescribed medication.

Paul, her husband, shared in an email on Thursday with the organization Compassion & Choices, which was also shared with The Associated Press, that her final words were, “I am relieved to no longer have to endure this (suffering).”

In 2022, the organization took legal action against Vermont in representation of Bluestein from Bridgeport, Connecticut and Diana Barnard, a physician from Middlebury. The lawsuit argued that Vermont’s residency mandate in their end-of-life law, known as “patient choice and control,” infringed upon the U.S. Constitution’s commerce, equal protection, and privileges and immunities clauses.

In March of last year, a settlement was reached between the state and Bluestein, a non-resident of Vermont, allowing them to use the state’s law to end their life in Vermont. Two months later, Vermont extended this option to out-of-state individuals in similar situations, making it the first state in the U.S. to amend its law to permit terminally ill individuals to utilize it to end their lives.

Barnard stated that Lynda was a strong supporter who fought for access to this law and ultimately achieved it. However, he believes that everyone should have the opportunity to access it in a more convenient location, as traveling and making arrangements to come to Vermont can be burdensome.

Barnard expressed sorrow as her life reached its conclusion, stating, “However, there is a glimmer of hope in the beauty and serenity that Lynda experienced in having a say in her final moments.”

Prior to Vermont’s revision of its law, only one state, Oregon, permitted non-residents to engage in medically assisted suicide by not enforcing the residency requirement through a legal agreement. This past summer, Oregon also eliminated this requirement. Currently, ten states permit medically assisted suicide.

Since 2013, Vermont has had a law that permits doctors to prescribe fatal medication to those suffering from a terminal illness with a prognosis of death within six months.

Advocates argue that the law includes strict protections, such as a condition that individuals must be able to effectively communicate their healthcare decisions to a doctor in order to use it. Patients must make two oral requests to the physician within a designated period of time and then provide a written request, signed in front of two or more impartial witnesses. These witnesses must also sign and confirm that the patients understood the content of the document and were not under any pressure or manipulation at the time.

Some individuals voice moral objections to assisted suicide and argue that there are insufficient measures in place to safeguard vulnerable patients from being coerced.

Bluestein, a dedicated advocate, spent her entire life pushing for the same laws to be enacted in Connecticut and New York. Unfortunately, this has not yet come to fruition. She was determined to avoid the same fate as her mother – passing away in a hospital bed after a long illness. In an interview with The Associated Press last year, she expressed her wish to peacefully pass away in the presence of her husband, children, grandchildren, beloved neighbors, friends, and dog.

She expressed her desire for a meaningful death that wouldn’t drag on for eternity.

Bluestein expressed her desire to maintain her current way of life and to have her death align with her desired life. She wanted to have control over when she could no longer tolerate the effects of cancer, which had already taken so much from her. This was her decision.

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Reported by Rathke in Marshfield, Vermont.