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Oregon's Right-to-Die Law Upheld *** Court Rules Ashcroft Was Wrong

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 18:00 CST

Oregon's right-to-die law upheld *** Court rules Ashcroft was wrong

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court rejected the Bush administrations challenge to the nations only right-to-die law Tuesday and ruled then-Attorney General John Ashcroft overstepped his authority when he sought to punish the Oregon doctors who helped terminally ill people end their lives.

The 6-3 decision was a victory for states and their independent- minded voters, and a defeat for social conservatives.

The case also showed new Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in the camp of the courts most conservative members in his first significant decision.

Roberts, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were the dissenters.

The Supreme Court majority said the states, not federal authorities, have long had the power to regulate the practice of medicine and the licensing of doctors.

They said Ashcroft was claiming an extraordinary authority to impose his own view on what is proper medical care for those who are near death.

Tuesdays decision clears the way for other states at least to consider adopting similar measures.

This is a watershed decision (that) reaffirms the liberty, dignity and privacy Americans cherish at the end of life, said Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion in Dying, a group that sponsored the Oregon law.

The ruling also leaves open the possibility the Republican- controlled Congress could amend the federal drug-control laws and forbid physicians from prescribing lethal medications. Congress also could pass laws explicitly banning doctor-assisted suicide.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush was disappointed in the decision.

The president remains fully committed to building a culture of life, a culture of life that is built on valuing life at all stages, he said.

The law has long prohibited suicide as well as aiding anothers suicide. In 1994, Oregon voters approved the Death With Dignity Act, which authorized doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to dying persons who requested it.

Two doctors must confirm the patient is an Oregon resident who suffers from a terminal disease that is likely to end his or her life within six months. The doctors must confirm the patient is of sound mind.

At least 208 persons have used medication to end their lives since the law took effect seven years ago.

The Supreme Court itself appeared to endorse the states right to take such a step in 1997.

While the Constitution does not give individuals a right to die, states are free to decide for themselves whether to permit physician- assisted suicide, the court said unanimously in a case from Washington state.

Some social conservatives, including then-Sen. Ashcroft, R-Mo., and Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., strongly opposed the notion of doctors giving patients medicine that would end their lives. They urged the Clinton administrations attorney general, Janet Reno, to take action against Oregon and its doctors.

She refused, saying she did not have the authority to displace the states as the primary regulators of the medical profession.

Shortly after taking office in 2001 as attorney general, Ashcroft reversed Renos decision and declared a doctors use of legal drugs to bring a life to end did not serve a legitimate medical purpose.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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