Montpelier, Vt., Oct 3, 2016 / 16:00 pm
A medical ethics group and a Christian doctors' group have challenged Vermont regulators who say that doctors must tell patients about assisted suicide or refer them to someone who will.
"The government shouldn't be telling health care professionals that they must violate their medical ethics in order to practice medicine," said Steven H. Aden, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. "Because the state has no authority to order them to act contrary to that sincere and time-honored conviction, we are asking the court to ensure that no state agency is able to do that while this lawsuit moves forward."
Aden's organization, a religious liberty group, has filed a lawsuit against officials in the Vermont Board of Medical Practice and the Office of Professional Regulation.
The lawsuit's plaintiffs, the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare and the Christian Medical and Dental Association, object to state officials' requirements that could force physicians to refer for assisted suicide under the 2013 assisted suicide law known passed as Act 39, the Patient Control at End of Life Act.