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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: theking on January 21, 2022, 10:52:29 PM

Title: Legislator was able to utilize the law he helped pass as he checks out of life
Post by: theking on January 21, 2022, 10:52:29 PM

Legislator Dies Using Medical Suicide Law He Helped Pass
The wife of a former Vermont legislator and House majority leader says he has died with the help of a law he himself helped pass that allows the terminally ill to end their own lives.

Willem Jewett died Jan. 12 at his home in Ripton at age 58, said his wife, Ellen McKay Jewett. He was diagnosed with mucosal melanoma over a year ago. In the days before his death, he supported changes to the 2013 law to make it easier for terminally ill people to navigate and get a prescription, VTDigger first reported.

“It is very Willem fashion to still be pushing for legislation that he believed in and using his ability to advocate for people,” his daughter Abigail Jewett said Wednesday.

Jewett, a lawyer and a competitive cyclist, served in the Vermont House from 2003 to 2016, where he was known for his energy, humor and intelligence — and for riding his bicycle more than 50 miles to the Statehouse for the annual Earth Day ride. He became assistant majority leader in 2011 and later majority leader.