Connecticut woman with terminal cancer sues Vermont over residency requirement for assisted suicide

A Connecticut woman who has cancer sued Vermont on Thursday for allowing only its own residents to take advantage of a state law that lets people who are terminally ill end their own lives.

Lynda Bluestein, 75, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who has terminal fallopian tube cancer, and Dr. Diana Barnard, of Middlebury, Vermont, argue in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington that Vermont's residency requirement violates the U.S. Constitution.

The Vermont law allows physicians to prescribe lethal medication to state residents with an incurable illness that is expected to kill them within six months.