Federal Ruling on Assisted Suicide Sparks Debate. (Law Upheld, Ashcroft Rebuked)

Perlstein, Steve, Clinical Psychiatry News

A federal court's denial of the Bush administration's attempt to nullify Oregon's assisted suicide law has rekindled debate over the issues of assisted suicide and federal intervention into physicians' practices.

In his April 17 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge RobertJones found in Portland that Attorney General John Ashcroft did not have the legal authority to decide that doctors acting in compliance with an Oregon law allowing physician-assisted suicides were in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. The decision in Oregon v. Ashcroft did not deal with the constitutionality of the Oregon law, but Judge Jones was quite critical of Mr. Ashcroft and his handling of the situation.

Judge Jones said in his ruling that the attorney general had attempted to "stifle an ongoing, earnest, and profound debate in the various states concerning physician-assisted suicide. The citizens of Oregon, …

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Publication information: Article title: Federal Ruling on Assisted Suicide Sparks Debate. (Law Upheld, Ashcroft Rebuked). Contributors: Perlstein, Steve - Author. Magazine title: Clinical Psychiatry News. Volume: 30. Issue: 5 Publication date: May 2002. Page number: 6+. © 2009 International Medical News Group. COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group.

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