Bush administration asks Supreme Court to block assisted suicide law in Oregon

AP Wire (direct feed) | November 9, 2004 | Gina Holland

[NYer]

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to block the nation's only law allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients die more quickly. The appeal from Attorney General John Ashcroft had been expected since May, when a lower court ruled the federal government could not punish Oregon doctors who prescribed lethal doses of federally controlled drugs.

Oregon voters approved the law and since 1998 more than 170 people have used it to end their lives. Most had cancer. The Bush administration has argued that assisted suicide is not a ``legitimate medical purpose'' and that doctors take an oath to heal patients, not help them die.

While not as prominent as abortion, the issue is an important one for conservative Christians, who helped Bush win a second term last week. The government waited until Tuesday, the final day possible, to file paperwork at the high court.

[Asphalt]

hm

[Pitiricus]

Well, this was expected...

[Moleman]

There go the evil, evangelical moral warriors again :-)

[NYer]

Euthanasia

Often disguised by the name "mercy killing," euthanasia also is a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.

In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).
EV John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)

Catholic Ping - please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[NYer]

Pro-life ping!

[Maceman]

I don't really see where this is an issue for the federal government at all.

Yeah, I know, protecting civil rights -- but I think "civil rights" has become way too broad an instrument, and allows the feds to expand their influence FAR beyond the original intent of our Constitution.

[proxy_user]

I suppose they are receiving these doctors are receiving their supplies in interstate commerce, or some such excuse.

The President should concentrate on foreign policy and the national economy.

[Pitiricus]

And how do you justify that no person has the right to take his or her own life?

Except in religious terms which are really not what must be legislated...

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I think it is a terrible and immoral law, but I think the SC should not block it.

[Carry_Okie]

It would seem to me that if the President beilieves in Federalism and States' Rights as a rationale for why abortion is a State matter not under the Constitutional jurisdiction of the Federal government, that he does not strengthen his case by taking this action.

[traviskicks]

If the people in a state want it then what is the big deal? If I had just a few agonizing days to live I might choose the easy way out too. Also, this is antithetical to the Conservative Principals of state's rights. The Republican party is standing in the way of personal choice and freedom.

[george wythe]

I'm in favor of greater states' powers.

Keep the federal government out of these state decisions.

I'm pro-life, but I want these battles fought and won using the strict constitionalist approach. See Roe v. Wade if you any doubts about the folly of allowing federal judges to overturn local and state laws.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

You are totally right in your post 5, at the same time, shouldn't we first convince the voters of that? This is different than abortion in that you are not killing another human being. Just yourself. It should not be legal, but we shouldn't overrule the will of the people on this either.

[faithincowboys]

I actually think assisted suicide is a good thing. I think this Country cannot continue its dominance in the world, if we have so much public money going to old, unproductive people-- we need to direct the bulk of public money to encouraging families, education, etc. Money should be dedicated to the producers. Of course, I would never want involuntary euthanasia to occur, but old people who are terminally ill, with no quality of life, who want to die with dignity should be able to do so.

[sarasota]

They won't.

[madprof98]

I expect the usual "my body, my rights" crowd to jump all over this, but the AG is right on the mark in trying to stop the "right to die" movement. This movement is not about allowing sick people to kill themselves (though a decent society would surely encourage them to do otherwise). It's about sanctioning medical killing. And we know exactly where that leads. In fact, the latest trend in Europe is killing off sick children.

People who think this is OK ought to read Wesley Smith's work, especially Culture of Death and Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Euthanasia to Legalized Murder.

[traviskicks]

"Of course, I would never want involuntary euthanasia to occur, but old people who are terminally ill, with no quality of life, who want to die with dignity should be able to do so."
--

I completely agree. What the heck are they thinking? This is going to turn off a majority of mainstream America. Its certainly turning off me, and I'm a conservative...

I think the Bush admin ought to stick to foreign policy, tort reform, SS reform, personal health accounts, tax simplification and government reduction. All of these problems are much, much more important than going off on a ideological tangent.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

You are right they won't. But this will backfire on Bush because the SC will make this a new constitutional right in the process.

[crushelits]

I TEND TO AGREE WITH YOU.

WHY PROLONG PAIN AND SUFFERING. AT LEAST THE PERSON SUFFERING IS DESIDING HIS OWN FATE.

UNLIKE THE UNBORN, WHERE THE UNBORN HAS NO SAY IN THE MATTER!