X-Message-Number: 8674 Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 10:03:03 -0700 From: David Brandt-Erichsen <> Subject: Oregon update The following wire story was issued by ASSOCIATED PRESS (Tuesday, Oct 14/97; 10:11 a.m. EDT) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ORE. ASSISTED-SUICIDE LAW MAY STAND By The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court, which ruled in June that terminally ill Americans have no constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide, today rejected a challenge to an Oregon measure that legalizes such help. The justices, without comment, refused to revive a lawsuit filed by a terminally ill woman and two doctors. A federal appeals court threw out the case after ruling that the three lacked the proper legal standing to sue. Today's action, although not a decision that sets any national precedent, clears the way for Oregon's assisted-suicide law to take effect -- at least for a short time. Oregon voters in 1994 passed a referendum allowing doctors to help mentally competent but terminally ill patients end their lives. The initiative, however, never has taken effect because of court challenges. The state Legislature has put the measure on this year's ballot, and voters will be asked in November whether they want to repeal the Death With Dignity Act, also known as Measure 16. The Supreme Court on June 26 upheld assisted-suicide bans in New York and Washington state. The ruling did nothing to bar states from legalizing such help from physicians, but most states have joined New York and Washington in outlawing it. ``Throughout the nation, Americans are engaged in an earnest and profound debate,'' Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court in June. ``Our holding permits this debate to continue.'' Oregon's Measure 16 was challenged by doctors Gary Lee and William Petty and by Janice Elsner, who is dying from progressive muscular dystrophy. The justices were told that Ms. Elsner suffers from recurrent clinical depression, which makes her sometimes want to end her life. The doctors and Ms. Elsner contend that the Oregon measure violates equal-protection rights by treating terminally ill people different than those who are not. ``Those not terminally ill enjoy a wide range of protections from self harm, assistance in suicide and substandard medical care,'' their appeal said. But Measure 16, it said, allows terminally ill and clinically depressed people to get doctors' help in ending their lives against their true intents. A federal trial judge ruled that the Oregon measure violated equal-protection rights, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and threw out the lawsuit. The appeals court ruled last March that there is no proof terminally ill adults ``have depression severe enough to prevent them from making an informed decision.'' In the appeal acted on today, lawyers for Ms. Elsner and the doctors said the appeals court ruling means ``dying persons troubled with recurring suicidal desires will be deprived of the assurance that their lives are as valued and protected as those not terminally ill.'' Lawyers for Oregon and the state's American Civil Liberties Union urged the justices to reject the appeal. The case is Lee vs. Harcleroad, 96-1824. The following wire story was issued by ASSOCIATED PRESS (10/13/97 6:49 PM Eastern) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUICIDE LAW COULD TAKE EFFECT SOON By CHARLES E. BEGGS The Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon's assisted suicide law, passed three years ago but never set in motion, could take effect -- at least for a few days -- shortly before the Nov. 4 election on whether to repeal it. But lawyers on both sides say it's unlikely the law would be in effect long enough for anyone to carry out a doctor-assisted suicide before new legal challenges sidetrack the law again. The upshot: It could be months or longer before any terminally ill Oregonian could legally get a prescription for life-ending drugs. Of course, if Measure 51 passes, the issue becomes moot because the 1994 law would be repealed and there would be nothing for the courts to rule on. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to review a lower court's decision to throw out a challenge of the Oregon law on technical grounds. If the Supreme Court refuses to review the case, that would allow the assisted suicide law to go forward. But first the orders and paperwork would have to make their way back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and to the U.S. District Court in Eugene, which issued the earlier rulings in the case. "We expect it would take two weeks for paper handling," said Peter Cogswell, spokesman for Attorney General Hardy Myers. That means once the paperwork is completed, the law could take effect -- possibly as early as Oct. 28, a week before [Image]the election. However, the Right to Life lawyer who has been leading the attack on Oregon's assisted suicide law says he would quickly file a new lawsuit. "I think there is a likelihood we could get another court injunction before people actually kill themselves," said Jim Bopp of Terre Haute, Ind. So even though the law might take effect late this month, a new lawsuit could block its implementation because the law has a 15-day waiting period for a terminally ill patient to obtain a lethal prescription. The case started in U.S. District Court in Eugene, where Judge Michael Hogan issued an injunction blocking enforcement of the law and later ruled it unconstitutional. He said the law lacks adequate safeguards for terminally ill people who are mentally incompetent. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the lower court to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds it was premature because it posed no immediate threat to the rights of the patient in the case or to doctors who objected to the law. Foes of the law appealed, and that's the case now before the Supreme Court. But it's there just on the issue of whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, which the 9th Circuit said they didn't. Bopp has asked the Supreme Court to defer its ruling on whether to review the Oregon case until after the Nov. 4 election in which Oregon voters will be asked whether they want to uphold or repeal the 1994 law. Bopp said it's suitable to have "the people of Oregon express their view" before the lawsuit goes further. A lawyer for supporters of assisted suicide, Eli Stutsman of Portland, said he expects opponents of the law to file all the papers they can to prevent implementing the law. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8674