US state of Vermont approves euthanasia bill
USAThe House of Representatives in the US state of Vermont has approved a bill that enables terminally ill patients to take their own lives with lethal medication requested from their doctors.
Vermont will become the fourth state in the US to allow euthanasia. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said on Monday that he will sign the bill to this effect that was approved by Vermont legislators by a 75-65 vote.
Under the document, terminally ill patients who are given no more than six months to live can ask their doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to hasten their death.
Several safeguards are built into the law, including a requirement for two medical opinions, the option of a psychiatric examination and a 17-day waiting period before a life-ending prescription can be filled.
Active euthanasia is illegal in most of the United States, but the so-called physician-assisted suicide is legalized in the US states of Oregon, Washington and Montana.