Attorney General John Ashcroft issues order allowing drug agents to go after assisted suicide doctor

Drudge Report ^ | 11.06.01 | Matt Drudge

[callisto]

Matt Drudge's breaking headline...More to follow...

[Senator Pardek]

Good grief... there's no more terror cells left?

[AmericaUnited]

Doctor Death is a terror cell.

[freedomcrusader]

doctor? Who is he/she? Or did Drudge mean doctors? Oh well, we'll have to wait for details. Isn't Kevorkian in jail?

[Saundra Duffy]

This is no doubt GOOD NEWS. I read an article about how assisted suicide is more likely to impact WOMEN more so than MEN. Women tend to be vulnerable to this crap because we don't want to be a burden on anyone. Go, John Ashcroft - go get 'em! For victory & freedom!!!

[al-andalus]

Since the War on Drugs is already such a success and the War on Terror is going along nicely, Ashcroft looks for new demons to slay...pornography, assisted suicide.

All part of Big Brother's big chill.

[Moleman]

All part of Big Brother's big chill.
BUMP

[ignatz_q]

I believe in the right to suicide. You know why? Because I'm a Republican and a Conservative, and I place personal responsibility as the cormerstone of a moral society.

What a profound waste of our nation's resources to go after those doctor's brave enough to empower people with the tools that the state has denied them.

[Senator Pardek]

WASHINGTON –– Attorney General John Ashcroft gave federal drug agents the go-ahead Tuesday to take action against doctors who help terminally ill patients die, a move aimed at undercutting Oregon's unique assisted-suicide law.

link

[Senator Pardek]

Not to mention States' Rights.

[ignatz_q]

Not to mention States' Rights.

Right!

[BikerNYC]

...I place personal responsibility as the cormerstone of a moral society.

What a profound waste of our nation's resources to go after those doctor's brave enough to empower people with the tools that the state has denied them.

Well said.

[freeeee]

Not to mention States' Rights.

Apparently Ashcroft can't read:

Amendment X: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Not only that, he forgot that 'conservatives' are supposed to be for state's rights. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, that's only when it suits their own purposes.

[Jolly Rodgers]

Attorney General John Ashcroft gave federal drug agents the go-ahead Tuesday to take action against doctors who help terminally ill patients die, a move aimed at undercutting Oregon's unique assisted-suicide law.

I'm an Oregonian. I voted against the assisted suicide initiative when it was re-affirmed for the second time. My wife works in a hospital pharmacy and has made it clear to her employer that she will NOT participate in the preparation or dissemination of assisted suicide drugs.

That being said, I am absolutely opposed to Ashcroft meddling in the internal affairs of the state of Oregon over this issue. If doctors start pushing patients to suicide, then Oregonians will address it on our own. The Feds have NO BUSINESS interfering with the citizens of Oregon and they are acting entirely outside their Constitutional charter when they do.

[AUgrad]

Not only that, he forgot that 'conservatives' are supposed to be for state's rights. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, that's only when it suits their own purposes.

That's the case with 99% of the politicos in the country.

[Senator Pardek]

I really bothers me that these same folks howled when the SC threw out a state's PBA ban.

I guess only the Executive Branch can play these games.

[The Energizer]

If someone wants to kill himself/herself, I can't stop them.

But to turn the healing profession into killers, that's another matter. For some eye-opening facts about what is going on in this world of assisted-suicide, etc., read Wesley Smith's books - "Forced Exit" and/or "Culture of Death." Most people have no idea what goes on in hospitals every day.

[callisto]

I think the relative part of the order relates to federally controlled substances. If the drugs used are not federally controlled then it shouldn't apply....As to whether there are any drugs that fall into the latter category, I personally don't know.

"The decision...would allow the revocation of drug licenses of doctors who participate in an assisted suicide using a federally controlled substance."

[Jolly Rodgers]

I really bothers me that these same folks howled when the SC threw out a state's PBA ban. I guess only the Executive Branch can play these games.

Stinking hypocritical pragmatists wouldn't know a principle if it stared them in the face. It's all about acquiring power to advance their own pet agenda, independent of Constitutional limitations.

[ignatz_q]

If someone wants to kill himself/herself, I can't stop them. But to turn the healing profession into killers, that's another matter.

See, that's the point though. By stopping doctor's from helping those who wish to end their own lives but are physically incapable of doing so is stopping them. Or rather, it is the state stopping them, and thus robbing them of their personal liberty.

The truth is, we could eliminate the debate over PAS altogether by taking physicians out of the loop and alowing people to take personal responsibility over themselves with regard to obtaining medication. See, for example, Thomas Szasz's arguments on the subject in "Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market."

(And if you really want to read something fascinating, dig up Szasz's classic controversial article "The Case Against Suicide Prevention.")