MONTPELIER--Flanked by leading advocates for Vermonters with disabilities, Lt. Governor Brian Dubie today hosted a news conference to discuss the implications of currently-proposed assisted suicide legislation for people living with disabilities in Vermont.

Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL), a non-profit organization directed and staffed by individuals with disabilities, works to promote the dignity, independence and civil rights of Vermonters with disabilities. Executive Director Deborah Lisi-Baker, Deputy Director Janet Dermody and Advocacy Specialist Maureen Kelly joined Dubie in his State House office to spotlight what they believe would be dangerous consequences of legalizing assisted suicide.

Lt. Governor Dubie opened the conference by quoting former Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s words. “In 1976,” Dubie said, “Hubert Humphrey once said ‘The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.’ We are here today to talk about Vermonters who live in the twilight and in the shadow, and about how we measure up in that moral test.”

Lieut. Governor Dubie said, “Representatives of VCIL have expressed their grave concerns about H.168,” a bill that would allow a physician to provide a terminally ill patient with a lethal dose of medication. “I have invited them to share my office, for the purpose of voicing those concerns.”

As Chair of Governor Jim Douglas’ Commission on Healthy Aging, Dubie said, he has already taken on the challenge to help address Vermonters’ need for better pain management and hospice care. He held up a copy of the report issued by Attorney General William Sorrell’s office in January 2005 on end of life care in Vermont. According to the report, he said, “Vermont scores way too many Cs and Ds in pain management, hospice care and public policy. We need to improve performance in those areas. Legalizing assisted suicide would take us in the wrong direction.”

With regard to the proposal presently under consideration by Vermont’s House of Representatives, Deborah Lisi-Baker said, “VCIL, like many national and state experts, believes that passing this bill at this time in our society is the wrong direction for Vermont and the nation. As we have said over and over again, we are demanding what we have so often been denied: social approaches to illness, disability, pain management that support life with dignity even in end of life care.”

It is estimated that one in five Vermonters lives with a significant disability; the Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL) serves 1,900 of those Vermonters yearly.

Dubie emphasized the broad concern that the proposed legislation has raised across the state. “Vermonters who live with disabilities are our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, our neighbors, friends and co-workers,” said Dubie. “They deserve a strong voice in the current debate.”

Lisi-Baker continued, “Legalizing physician assisted suicide before creating the resources and capacity to offer all Vermonters equal access to pain management, hospice supports and other resources seems to me to be giving up on what our society and our medical system is perfectly capable of doing -- what we are perfectly capable of doing today -- if we have the will to make access to quality services a priority.

Vermont can and should do better, and must not let shortcoming in medical practices define our approach to end of life care.”

Dubie acknowledged, “Advocates on all sides of this question are motivated by compassion, and by a desire to alleviate suffering and honor life and human dignity. That’s common ground where we can all meet to continue this discussion, with respect and openness.”