X-Message-Number: 6091 Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 17:45:24 -0700 From: David Brandt-Erichsen <> Subject: stay issued on 2nd circuit ruling Associated Press is carrying the following story today (Apr 18) Court Issues 30-Day Stay of Doctor-Assisted Suicide Ruling NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked an earlier ruling that struck down the state's ban on doctor-assisted suicide. Responding to a request by state Attorney General Dennis Vacco, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 30-day stay Wednesday of its April 2 ruling that essentially legalized assisted suicide. Vacco plans to use that time to prepare an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. ``This stay prevents New York doctors from participating in so-called mercy killings at least until the nation's highest court has an opportunity to examine the profound issues raised by this suit,'' the attorney general said in a statement. The 2nd Circuit had struck down two New York state laws banning physician-assisted suicide, finding the laws violated the Constitution by failing to treat individuals equally. The court said that patients on life-support systems can be disconnected at their request, but others who want to speed death by taking prescribed drugs are stopped. The ruling was similar to one last month in San Francisco in which a federal appeals court struck down Washington state's ban, ruling that mentally competent, terminally ill adults have a constitutional right to die. The New York ruling came in a case brought by three doctors who had sought to speed the deaths of three terminally ill patients. The patients have since died. Carla A. Kerr, a lawyer for the three doctors, said in a statement last week that she expects the Supreme Court to refuse to hear the case because the appeals court relied on ``a straightforward application'' of constitutional principles. <David Brandt-Erichsen> Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=6091