Libertarians call on the Legislature to act on Death with Dignity bill

March 13, Libertarian Party chair Hardy Machia spoke out in support of death with dignity legislation that would allow people to retain the right to make their end-of-life decisions themselves.

Libertarian Party State Chair Hardy Machia said, “Freedom starts with the individual, and each individual is the owner of his own mind, body, and spirit. The Death with Dignity bill respects this fundamental right by allowing individuals to make decisions about how they want to live their lives, and how they want to end their lives. We call on the legislature to act on the death with dignity bill [H.168] this session.”

The Libertarian Party looks with approval on Oregon’s eight-year-old assisted-suicide law that allows doctors to help terminally ill patients who wish to end their lives. The Party disagrees with the Bush administration’s argument against the Oregon law, that that hastening death with medication violates federal drug provisions. Libertarians believe that no federal or state provisions should truncate the fundamental right of human beings over their own lives and bodies.

Libertarians agree with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision rendered in Gonzales v. Oregon that upheld Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act by a vote of 6-3. “It is time for Vermont to pass similar legislation to take a more libertarian approach to matters that are so intimate and personal to our people,” Machia said.

The Death with Dignity bill [H.168] is currently in the House Human Services Committee.

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