Federal judge upholds Oregon assisted-suicide law
April 17, 2002 Posted: 2:59 PM EDT (1859 GMT)
PORTLAND, Oregon (CNN) -- A
federal judge Wednesday upheld
Oregon's law allowing
physician-assisted suicide, ruling that
the Justice Department does not have
the authority to overturn it.
In his ruling, Judge Robert E. Jones
criticized U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft for seeking to nullify the state
law, saying he "fired the first shot in the
battle" and had sought to "stifle" a debate
on the matter through a Nov. 6 directive.
Jones ordered the federal government to
halt any efforts to prosecute Oregon
physicians, pharmacists and other
health-care providers who participate in assisted suicide of terminally ill patients
under Oregon's law.
"Many of our citizens, including the highest respected leaders of this country,
oppose assisted suicide," Jones wrote. "But the fact that opposition to assisted
suicide may be fully justified, morally, ethically, religiously or otherwise, does not
permit a federal statute to be manipulated from its true meaning to satisfy even a
worthy goal."
Ashcroft had cited the Controlled Substances Act as
the basis of his directive.
The permanent injunction is a major blow to
Ashcroft, who has staunchly opposed the Oregon
law.
"We're digesting the opinion," Ashcroft said at a
Wednesday Justice Department news conference.
"The opinion will be evaluated in the department. The
course of action to be taken by the department will be determined upon our
complete reading of the opinion and evaluation of the circumstances."
The judge suggested Ashcroft was trying to overstep his bounds, noting that
opponents of the Oregon law had failed to get Congress to ban nationwide the
practice of assisted suicide.
"To allow an attorney general -- an appointed executive whose tenure depends
entirely on whatever administration occupies the White House -- to determine the
legitimacy of a particular medical practice without a specific congressional grant of
such authority would be unprecedented."
No other state has passed an assisted-suicide statute. The Oregon Death with
Dignity Act went into effect in October 1997.
Justice sources said they expected the department to appeal the decision to the
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jones ruled that the federal government does not have the authority under the
Controlled Substances Act to prohibit doctors from dispensing drugs used to assist
in suicide.
The government had claimed assisted suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose.
-- CNN Justice Department Producer Terry Frieden contributed to this report.
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