Assisted Suicide Law in Doubt
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2003-08-07 08:29:48
A federal judge has blocked a directive from U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft that clouds the future of assisted suicide in Oregon.
Ashcroft's order would leave physicians operating under Oregon's assisted suicide law open to federal prosecution and dim the prospects of other states trying to pass legislation.
Assisted suicide is legal only in Oregon. For now, the law allows doctors to prescribe, but not administer, drugs to certain dying patients. It's been used fewer than 100 times since it first was approved in 1994.
If Ashcroft's directive is implemented, Oregon doctors who prescribe narcotics beyond their intended use for pain management could lose the right to prescribe medication.
Many pain care advocates worry that Ashcroft's action, while confined to Oregon, will deter doctors nationwide from providing adequate pain relief.
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