this is a matter for the states
I wonder if the same rationale will be used in abortion cases.
The right to life is no more a 'matter for the states' than religious liberty, freedom of speech or assembly or any other fundamental God-given right that is spelled out in the Bill of Rights.
Our legal and political leaders have come loose from all of the most important moral moorings.
Ok, state law trumps federal law if it is to kill human life, but state law does NOT trump federal law if it is to save human life.
Man, O man.
Arguable -- but that was not the basis for the decision.
The decision was the federal government does have jurisdiction to regulate this but the court's decision was that it was morally and legally OK if two doctors say it is.
In other words they did not rule on law but on values and opinion.
I agree with you. Whether or not the justices agreed with the idea of assisted suicide, the question is whether or not Oregon's law is constitutional. I think they made the correct call.
Donning flame retardent suit...
I agree....it's a matter for the States.
I imagine that is the legal basis for the ruling.
this is a matter for the statesAs it should be, as abortion should be and was until Roe v. Wade.
So was slavery
Agreed. We need to be consistent.
Now maybe the Court will defer to Referendums in California abd Colorado? What gives here? Oregon's morality is closer to O'Connor's? It has always been among the least religious states, a hive of the KKK for instance.
Absolutely right...and, sadly Justice Thomas' dissent notes that the scope of federal power under the Controlled Substances Act is "sweeping and troubling" (i.e. an unconstitutional infringement on an area that belongs with the states) but that is "water over the dam now"
Thomas' opinion is the most illuminating again as he notes (with some obvious bemusement) that most of the same Justices holding that assisted is a matter for the states held, just 7 months ago in the Raich case, that the federal government had the authority to criminalize purely intrastate medical marijuana...
Why not for individuals?
As reprehensible as assisted suicide is, I agree, it is a matter for the states.
this is a matter for the statesMatters of life and death are not just "matters for the states". If Oregon wanted to legalize contract killing, rape, and bank robbery, should SCOTUS say "None of our business"?