Oregon assisted suicide law upheld

Let the champagne flow! This will probably be the last pro-citizen decision to come out of the Supreme Court. Once Alito is in, the Ultra Right will have control. Then assisted suicide will be gone, then Roe v. Wade then they will rule that God speaks through Bush and appoint him as emperor to launch a crusade against all whom oppose him!

Hey, it could happen.

From CNN:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the Bush administration's attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die, protecting Oregon's one-of-a-kind assisted-suicide law.

It was the first loss for Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the court's most conservative members -- Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas -- in a long but restrained dissent.

The administration improperly tried to use a federal drug law to pursue Oregon doctors who prescribe lethal doses of prescription medicines, the court said in a rebuke to former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

With this decision Kennedy showed signs of becoming a more influential swing voter after O'Connor departs. He is a moderate conservative who sometimes joins more liberal members on cases involving such things as gay rights and capital punishment.

Justices have dealt with end-of-life cases before, most recently in 1997 when the court unanimously ruled that people have no constitutional right to die. That decision, by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, left room for states to set their own rules.

"For Oregon's physicians and pharmacists, as well as patients and their families, today's ruling confirms that Oregon's law is valid and that they can act under it without fear of federal sanctions," said state Solicitor General Mary Williams.

The ruling backed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Ashcroft's "unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide."

This law has some serious hurdles that a patient has to jump through if they want to get access to the medication but it is at least a start.

There was a big conservative push to stop government from regulating business but they can't stop meddling in our personal lives. If the GOP wants to cut regulation, I say tell them to stop their Human Regulation!

The entire article can be found here:
CNN.com - Oregon assisted suicide law upheld

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