A settlement of a lawsuit will allow a Connecticut woman with cancer to take advantage of Vermont's medical aid in dying law, even though she is not a Vermont resident. Lynda Bluestein of Bridgeport sued Vermont in August for only allowing its own residents to use the law. The Vermont law – known as Act 39 – allows physicians to prescribe lethal medication to state residents with an incurable illness that is expected to kill them within six months. Bluestein and Dr. Diana Barnard, of Middlebury, Vermont, argued in the lawsuit that Vermont's residency requirement violates the U.S. Constitution. Under the settlement, Vermont officials agree not to enforce the residency requirement for the 75-year-old Bluestein, if she complies with all other requirements of the law. The settlement comes as a bill is currently working through the Vermont Legislature that would remove the residency requirements. It passed in the House and if approved by the Senate, and signed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who supports the concept, Vermont would become the second state after Oregon to no longer require terminally ill people to be residents to use the law to receive lethal medication. Bluestein is a lifelong activist who has had three different cancer diagnoses in a short time. She says she knew she had to do something so that her death would not be like that of her mother, who died in a hospital bed after a prolonged illness that devastated her body so drastically that she did not want her daughter to see her in that state. Bluestein says she has different plans for her death, including not waiting until cancer destroys her completely. She decided she wanted to be surrounded by her family, her children and grandchildren, her wonderful neighbors, friends and her dog when she decides that cancer has taken enough from her. Bluestein was hoping that Connecticut lawmakers would finally pass a medical aid in dying law this year, after failing to do so during numerous other attempts in previous years. That would, she says, would enable her to spend her final days in the longtime home she loves, surrounded by her neighbors and loved ones. Still, she wanted to have a backup option in case Connecticut lawmakers again fail to act on the legislation. Bluestein decided to look into Vermont as an option when a friend who had cancer moved there to establish residency so she could take advantage of the medical aid in dying law. That friend – who provided Bluestein with detailed information on what it took her to establish residency in Vermont – died last year, surrounded by her husband, son and daughter in Vermont. As part of the Vermont settlement, the state Department of Health must support the legislation. Eight states, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine and New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., also have medically assisted suicide laws. In Montana, the state Supreme Court ruled that state law does not prohibit medical aid in dying.