Death with Dignity Wins Another Historic Court Battle

Oregon Death with Dignity Center Reacts

April 17, 2002

Contact: Greg Eddleston, geddleston@dwd.org / (503) 228.6079.

PORTLAND, OR—Today federal Judge Robert E. Jones handed down his written decision in Oregon v. Ashcroft, giving the death with dignity movement a substantial victory over a hostile opponent who has used taxpayer dollars to undermine the democratic process.

"Judge Jones' opinion is a complete rejection of the Ashcroft ruling in every sense: as a matter of law and as a matter of states' rights. The judge indicated his respect for those who oppose the law, but affirmed that in a pluralistic society, we need to respect the will of those who would choose this option and we should respect the democratic and legal process that has twice affirmed this law," said Portland attorney Eli Stutsman who represented an Oregon physician and pharmacist on behalf of the Oregon Death with Dignity Center.

"This ruling should help physicians all across the country understand that the law can and will support them in their efforts to alleviate the suffering of those patients who choose this option," said Dr. Peter Rasmussen, the physician plaintiff in the suit against Attorney General Ashcroft.

"The people of Oregon spoke twice. Congress failed to overturn the law twice and now federal courts have spoken twice – just how many tax dollars will John Ashcroft and other opponents spend trying to undermine the will of the people and the democratic process?" said Scott Blaine Swenson, Executive Director of the Oregon Death with Dignity Center.

Today's decision affirms yet again the legality of Oregon's Death with Dignity law. It also affirms the right of citizens across the country to determine for themselves, legitimate medical practice. On November 6, 2001, U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft issued an edict enabling the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to track and investigate medications prescribed and filled under Oregon's historic law. This ruling, a reinterpretation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), an overturning of former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno's 1998 decision, and an undermining of a twice-approved state initiative, was regarded as the herald of a retrograde movement in end-of-life care.

Editorial boards, ethicists and medical professionals across the country criticized the Ashcroft decision as short-sighted moral posturing that served no one's best medical interests. Some medical experts feared that physicians would under medicate their suffering terminally ill patients for fear of federal sanctions. Legal experts questioned Ashcroft's intrusion into a state-regulated medical practice.

Though an appeal is expected, the Oregon Death with Dignity Center is prepared to meet any future legal challenges. ODWD is the legal defense and public education nonprofit representing physician Peter Rasmussen and pharmacist David Hochhalter in these proceedings. ODWD is the only organization to have successfully proposed, passed and defended the Death with Dignity law since 1994. Visit us on the web at www.dwd.org.

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