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Death with Dignity Case to be First Major Case for
Chief Justice Roberts
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Physician Assisted Dying
Case on October 5th
Oct. 2, 2005 – As the U.S. Supreme Court opens its
new session this week; one of the cases many senior citizens will watch
closely will be heard on Wednesday, when Oregon's landmark Death with
Dignity Law takes center stage. The question is about the federal
government’s power over a state’s right to determine medical practices.
Gonzales v. Oregon asks if Federal Drug Enforcement
Agents can arrest and prosecute physicians and pharmacists for
practicing under Oregon's Death with Dignity law. The Death with Dignity
Act was passed twice by Oregon voters -- in 1994 and 1997 -- and has
withstood one previous court challenge that the U.S. Supreme Court chose
not to hear (Lee v. Oregon, 1997).
Another interesting sidebar to this case is the
“Gonzales” bring the suit against Oregon is U.S. Attorney Alberto R.
Gonzales, himself one of those often mentioned as a possible appointee
to the court by President Bush.
Between the law's 1997 implementation and the State
of Oregon's 2005 report, 208 Oregonians with terminal illness ended
their suffering through use of the law. Oregonians have twice affirmed
their support for the law, and this support grows with each year of the
law's successful and safe implementation.
“To qualify for lethal drugs under the Oregon law,
two doctors must certify that the patient is mentally competent; is
suffering from a terminal disease; [and] has expressed a wish to
accelerate the dying process, said Tim O'Brien, moderator of the
Religion and Ethics on PBS. “The patient must be at least 18, a resident
of Oregon, and there's a 15-day waiting period.”
“Under the law, the doctor may prescribe the drugs
but cannot assist; patients must be strong enough to take the medication
themselves,” O’Brien explained.
O’Brien’s report on Friday included comments by
many of those closely involved in the case.
Barbara Coombs Lee, Co-CEO and President,
Compassion & Choices, told O’Brien, “Suicide is very, very much a
misnomer. And it is pejorative. It's demeaning; it's really insulting to
people who are dying of cancer -- who are facing a very grim death, who
do not have the choice to live, who would take that choice gladly if it
were given to them, who are merely trying to choose the least worst
death -- to call them suicide.”
Another view was that of Richard Doerflinger, of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who said, “You're choosing
between the only life you have and death, and it's still suicide. It's
still killing yourself.”
Although the focus is on suicide, the case is
really about a state’s rights.
Hardy Myers, the Oregon Attorney General said, “I
think the respect for states' rights kind of is stronger or weaker
depending upon whether the action the state is taking is one the
particular administration in question likes.”
“If the Court rules in favor of Attorney General
Gonzales, Oregon patients legal choices will be narrowed to extra-legal
and far riskier options,” according to the Death with Dignity National
Center.
“Physician-hastened dying for persons with terminal
illness happens every day in every state,” says the DDNC. “Oregon is the
only state in which the practice is legally recognized and sanctioned.
Laws will not prevent dying patients from seeking an end to their
suffering, nor will laws prevent some doctors from quietly helping their
dying patients who ask for help. By passing the law, Oregonians actively
protect patients, their physicians and loved ones by strictly regulating
the practice and ensuring that no abuse or coercion occurs.”
Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC,
http://www.deathwithdignity.org/) is an education and advocacy
organization responsible for the development, passage and defense of
Oregon's law. The organization is directed by several national medical
and legal experts who have helped shaped the issue from the outset.
For the complete O’Brien transcript and video –
click here
Related Links:
Compassion & Choices
Compassion in Dying Federation
State of Oregon: Physician-Assisted Suicide
Oregon Health and Science University Center for Ethics in Health Care:
"The Oregon Death with Dignity Act: A Guidebook for Health Care
Professionals"
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Oregon and Assisted Suicide
Death with Dignity National Center.
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