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Assisted Suicide Laws
« on: Nov 4th, 2002, 9:49am » |
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Assisted suicide law is working, backer says
Saturday, November 2, 2002 Posted: 12:29 PM EST (1729 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five years after the nation's only physician-assisted suicide law took effect, a key supporter said she is confident the Oregon measure will be upheld by a federal appeals court.
Barbara Coombs Lee, executive director of the Compassion in Dying Federation, told the National Press Club this week that Oregon's assisted suicide law is rarely needed, but the terminally ill find comfort in it because it gives them some control over their fate.
By the end of 2001, the last year figures are available, the law had been used by 91 people -- roughly 22 per year since taking effect Oct. 27, 1997. Most patients had cancer.
Lee accused Attorney General John Ashcroft of pursuing a "personal vendetta" against assisted suicide, based more on political and moral objections than legal principles.
As a senator, Ashcroft worked to override the Oregon law. As attorney general, one of his first acts was to try to strike it down, but a federal judge later upheld it. Last month, Ashcroft asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to abolish assisted suicide as counter to U.S. drug law.
The law lets the terminally ill obtain a lethal dose of drugs if they have less than six months to live and are mentally competent to make the request. Patients must take the fatal dose by themselves.
Lee, a nurse-turned-lawyer who helped draft the law, said Ashcroft is likely to fail because he doesn't have the legal authority to strike it down.
"Congress didn't give him that authority. Oregonians debated a complex medical and moral issue and chose an approach that works well. Our careful process and commendable outcome deserves respect," she said.
Lee expects the case to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in October 1997 that states have the right to enact such a law.
Oregon's law was approved by voters in 1994 and took effect Oct. 27, 1997, days after the top court's decision. In November 1997, Oregon voters rejected a repeal effort by a wide margin.
Opponents, including the American Medical Association, contend assisted suicide violates the principle that doctors should fight to save lives, not help end them. Groups including the National Right to Life Committee and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have submitted "friends of the court" papers to the appeals court, opposing the law.
But Lee, who plans to file a reply to Ashcroft's appeal next week, said dozens of other groups -- including the California Medical Association, New York State Medical Society and Washington State Medical Association -- will submit briefs in support of the law next month.
Justice Department officials have declined to comment on the case while it is being appealed.
But a number of top legal scholars regard the U.S. case as weak, noting the 1997 Supreme Court ruling and a long tradition in which states are responsible for regulating medical practice.
Lee conceded she was frustrated more states have not followed Oregon's lead, but said once the legal wrangling is finished, the Oregon law is likely to serve as a model for the nation.
"There was a legitimate wait-and-see attitude," she said. "But I do think five years is a benchmark, and people will see it's no longer hypothetical. It works."
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