The Vermont House has rejected an attempt to put before voters a referendum on whether to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients who request it.
The 90-to-53 vote to defeat the amendment offered Wednesday by Rep. Kurt Wright of Burlington came as the House prepared to vote on final passage of the bill variously dubbed physician-assisted suicide or death with dignity.
Republican Kurt Wright wanted to put the question before voters in the next statewide election in November of 2014. The last time Vermont went to a statewide referendum on an issue that had been before the Legislature was the state lottery in 1977.
The House gave the aid-in-dying measure preliminary approval Wednesday night on a vote of 80 to 57.
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