Oregon Assisted Suicide Law:
Are the Days Numbered?
Christian Science Monitor reviews the case in great detail. The Bush administration and key members of Congress argue that prescribing a lethal drug for purposes of suicide violates the federal Controlled Substances Act, and that this trumps state law and the long-held position that medical practices are to be regulated by the states.
A federal judge and then the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that position. To do so, the appeals court ruled, "interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide."
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I know that the mere incantation of Ashcroft's name has magical powers, but what does Ashcroft--now the former attorney general of the U.S.--have to do with this case?
- by Thomas on Feb 25, 2005 at 11:58 PM | link
If the feds win in Gonzales v. Oregon, assisted suicide will remain completely legal in Oregon. Doctors would be able to prescribe non controlled substances to kill and not run afoul of the feds. They would just not be able to prescribe barbituates and etc. without worrying that the Feds might pull their licenses to prescribe controlled substances.
It seems to me that the right result from the perspective of federalism, would be the same as the SCOTUS's earlier unanimous decison on medical marijuana. California, the court ruled, is certainly free to have its own laws on the matter. But the state has no power to nullify Federal law over marijuana.
The same result would be proper with regard to assisted suicide.
- by Wesley J. Smith on Feb 26, 2005 at 5:09 PM | link