US Supreme Court to take on assisted suicide challenge
Publish date: 01 March 2005
Issue Number: 1286
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Corruption
The issue has drawn much attention in the UK, and now the US Supreme Court says it will hear a challenge by the government to an Oregon law that allows doctors in that state to help terminally ill patients commit suicide.
The Washington Times reports more than 170 people have legally committed assisted suicide in Oregon since the state passed its Death With Dignity Act in 1998. Oregon is the only state with such a law. The Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling that bars the federal government from pressing criminal charges against doctors who prescribe overdoses to help people die more quickly. The court has, however, declined to take on another controversial matter. It says it wont reopen the landmark Roe v Wade case, which legalised abortion in 1973. Full report in The Washington Times
