Supreme Court allows suicide law
Rep. Judy Baker suggested Supreme Court ruling means issue may arise in Missouri.
Published Jan. 20, 2006
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday against actions the Department of Justice took to block an Oregon law regarding assisted suicide. The ruling made the practice legal and the court stated the law was not a violation of federal law.
Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, said Missouri probably also would deal with the issue.
"The issue has gone underground in most states, waiting for the outcome of this case," Baker said. "You'll probably see it in Missouri soon."
In 2001, former Attorney General John Ashcroft challenged the Oregon law, and tried to punish doctors who wrote prescriptions for lethal doses of medication, as the law authorized.
Ashcroft claimed the law violated the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which states medication must be prescribed for a legitimate medical purpose. Ashcroft said assisted suicide was not a legitimate purpose, and said the act gave him the authority to revoke doctors' prescribing privileges if the doctors prescribed lethal doses of medication to terminally ill patients.
Ashcroft resigned as attorney general in 2004, but his successor, Alberto Gonzales, continued the case to block the law.
The court decided 6-3 that Ashcroft overstepped his authority and his actions were not justified. Chief Justice John Roberts dissented in his first high-profile vote on the court, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The Oregon law, first passed in 1994 and reaffirmed in a 1997 referendum, was allowed to stand and be implemented.
Baker said assisted suicide is a personal decision, and a decision about which people want more control.
"The decision is a positive step," Baker said. "The court has ruled to let states settle these matters for themselves."
Robert Kenneth, spokesman for the Dying with Dignity National Center, said the group would partner with citizens and legislators to create similar laws in other states. He said the group is watching bills allowing assisted suicide in California, Vermont and Washington. He said he didn't know of any organized efforts to legalize assisted suicide in Missouri.
MU law professor Phil Peters said he followed the case through the Supreme Court ruling.
"After hearing the arguments, I was surprised by the ruling," Peters said. "The justices seemed skeptical of the arguments Oregon made for putting the statute outside the federal control of controlled substances. Congress did not have assisted suicide in mind when writing the drug laws, though."