Supreme Court Upholds Oregon Suicide Law -- Update

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Bush administration cannot prohibit the use of federally controlled drugs from being used in assisted suicides in Oregon, the only state in the nation with a law allowing the grisly practice.

The majority, which included all of the Justices who back abortion, said federal law does not trump state law, even though the supremacy of federal law is normally upheld.
In 2001, former Attorney general John Ashfcroft said that Oregon doctors shouldn't be using drugs that are regulated by the Controlled Substances Act, which governs illegal narcotics, because the drugs do not constitute a "legitimate medical purpose."

Justice Anthony Kennedy, in the opinion for the majority, said the federal government has the authority to pursue drug dealers and pass healthy and safety rules under the law, but not to prosecute doctors using the drugs to kill patients.
The "authority claimed by the attorney general is both beyond his expertise and incongruous with the statutory purposes and design," Kennedy wrote.

The case is the first major pro-life battle to involve new Chief Justice John Roberts and he sided with pro-life Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia in dissent.
[Entire Story]

Update -- Conclusions/Reactions from Pro-lifers


Justice Saclia wrote "If the term 'legitimate medical purpose' has any meaning," "it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death."

In Washington, the Family Research Council denounced the majority decision, saying that the "appalling ruling leads the land we love further down that slippery slope toward a culture of death."

Dorothy Timbs, a spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee, agreed that the ruling "sets a dangerous precedent for all vulnerable Americans, especially those with disabilities and life- or health-threatening illnesses."

John Haas of the National Catholic Bioethics Center argued that the Court's decision would lead to "diminishing the quality of health care that is ultimately made available to suffering patients, and promoting the abuse of controlled substances."
However, a few disappointed pro-life leaders underlined the fact that the Supreme Court's decision hinged on interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act, which could potentially be amended to satisfy the Court's objections.

"The Supreme Court has never and did not today speak to the merits of assisted suicide," observed Austin Ruse of the Culture of Life Foundation. Dorothy Timbs, of the National Right to Life Committee, added: "Nothing in the decision suggests that Congress lacks the constitutional authority to amend the Act to make clear that federally controlled drugs may not be used to kill people.”

For further discussion and evaluation on this issue, College Catholic has an excellent post. Check out Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate 's post, too.