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WASHINGTON-- The Supreme Court upheld Oregon's one-of-a-kind physician-assisted suicide law Tuesday, rejecting a Bush administration attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die. Justices, on a 6-3 vote, said that a federal drug law does not override the 1997 Oregon law used to end the lives of more than 200 seriously ill people. New Chief Justice John Roberts backed the Bush administration, dissenting for the first time. The administration improperly tried to use a drug law to punish Oregon doctors who prescribe lethal doses of prescription medicines, the court majority said. Congress did not have this far-reaching intent to alter the federal-state balance, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for himself, retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. Kennedy is expected to become a more influential swing voter after O'Connor's departure. He is a moderate conservative who sometimes joins the liberal wing of the court in cases involving such things as gay rights and capital punishment. The ruling was a reprimand to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who in 2001 said that doctor-assisted suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose and that Oregon physicians would be punished for helping people die under the law. Kennedy said the authority claimed by the attorney general is both beyond his expertise and incongruous with the statutory purposes and design. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for himself, Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, said that federal officials have the power to regulate the doling out of medicine. If the term 'legitimate medical purpose' has any meaning, it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death, he wrote. Scalia said the court's ruling is perhaps driven by a feeling that the subject of assisted suicide is none of the federal government's business. It is easy to sympathize with that position. Oregon's law covers only extremely sick people-- those with incurable diseases and who are of sound mind, and after at least two doctors agree they have six months or less to live. For Oregon's physicians and pharmacists, as well as patients and their families, today's ruling confirms that Oregon's law is valid and that they can act under it without fear of federal sanctions, state Solicitor General Mary Williams said. The ruling backed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Ashcroft's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide. Ashcroft had brought the case to the Supreme Court on the day his resignation was announced by the White House in 2004. The Justice Department has continued the case, under the leadership of his successor, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The court's ruling was not a final say on federal authority to override state doctor-assisted suicide laws-- only a declaration that the current federal scheme did not permit that. However, it could still have ramifications outside of Oregon. This is a disappointing decision that is likely to result in a troubling movement by states to pass their own assisted suicide laws, said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which backed the administration. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and a supporter of the law, said the ruling has stopped, for now, the administration's attempts to wrest control of decisions rightfully left to the states and individuals. Thomas wrote his own dissent as well, to complain that the court's reasoning was puzzling. Roberts did not write separately. Justices have dealt with end-of-life cases before. In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that terminally ill people may refuse treatment that would otherwise keep them alive. Then, justices in 1997 unanimously ruled that people have no constitutional right to die, upholding state bans on physician-assisted suicide. That opinion, by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, said individual states could decide to allow the practice. Roberts strongly hinted in October when the case was argued that he would back the administration. O'Connor had seemed ready to support Oregon's law, but her vote would not have counted if the ruling was handed down after she left the court. The case is Gonzales v. Oregon, 04-623.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © The Sun-Times Company Hmm another suspicious suicide?...sm **Margie Schoedinger died of a gunshot wound to the head in 2003, nine months after filing the suit. The Harris County Medical Examiner's office has ruled the death a suicide.** This is another difference between democrats and republicans. Where is the democratic conspiracy machine when you need them? Are they sure she just wasn't trying suicide? x Suicide is illegal..... but how do you prosecute? sorry, but I find this morbidly funny. If someone wants to end their life, they will. Hey T - Im in Oregon too I was born and raised in CT, so I always consider myself a New Englander, but now here in GPass Oregon. I'm glad we matter. I've already submitted my vote for him. I do hope we matter because we should be given an equal chance as everyone else. Here in Oregon I live in a small town in southern OR (population around 34,000) and it's really bad. 5 houses in our neighborhood have just become vacant (one in foreclosure) just since Christmas. But throughout the town more and more homes are foreclosing and people moving out. I think DH said about 30% of the homes in this town are vacant now. We figure its only a matter of time before the stores start closing down. School teachers have been asked to work one day without pay. Town won't pay any more for police/fire, therefore some 911 calls are going unanswered. Gangs are getting more and more frequent. There's not a lot of industry here (just mainly Wal-Marts, grocery stores, a few restaurant and some mom and pop shops), but whatever industry that is here is laying off. Community colleges are cutting back on a lot of programs. More and more homeless and kids not in school wandering around the town. Not sure how much longer the town will survive. Lots of retired here so they keep going, but there is just nothing to look forward to here. We don't eat out (no money, plus we don't like leaving our home for very long with all the people wandering around). Every day we hear of some house being broken into and it was right after they left to go do something. But they are so bold that they break into your home while your asleep. Overall the economy is very bad here and it looks like no signs of improvement in the near future, if ever at all. This may become a ghost town in a few years and maybe just a vacation spot (that is when people can afford to take vacations again). Why don't women have a right to choose suicide? Why is it a woman can chose to murder an unborn child because it's "her body" - a scientific impossibility... But if that woman decided to kill HERSELF - when it actually IS her body - it's a crime. You promote abortion. The fact that you don't want to admit it proves that somewhere in your dank, shriveled-up little soul, there's at least one ounce of decency that knows what you're professing is wrong. You are pro-abortion. You're just in denial about it. LIke every other "proud Liberal" lunatic. And Israel loves those suicide bombers. Your posts are disquieting. Why do you defend Hezbollah? Yes, I heard about the woman who committed suicide... and invoking the poor woman to beat me over the head with is the height of nastiness. But about what I would expect from you. I hardly think it was every Republicans' fault it happened, but you sure wanna blame them. Hmmm...hating a whole group of people...sounds like bigot to me. I suppose you saw the bit about the illegal immigrant in San Francisco who offed a man and his two sons with an AK-47 in a road rage incident? Maybe you would like to talk to his widow and their mother your take on illegals and how they should enjoy the benefits of citizens. If Mayor Newsom hadn't declared San Fran a sanctuary city and told the police not to work with ICE, that particular illegal would have been deported or in jail a long time ago, since he had 3 or 4 felonies and 3 or 4 recent arrests. A citizen, for pete's sake, would have already been in jail a LONG time ago. So please, if you are going to invoke the poor woman who committed suicide to make your point of hatred of Republicans (which has nothing to do with why the woman committed suicide...she committed suicide because she had kept the degree of the problem away from her husband and he had no idea his house was about to be auctioned off...tell the WHOLE story...which is still a horrible situation but not hardly all Republicans' fault...good grief)...anyway, allow me to invoke the illegal who slaughtered three innocent citizens with an AK-47 for no good reason (as if there was a good reason for slaughtering 3 innoncent people)...which EXACTLY illustrates my point. Gavin Newsom, poster child for the far left, has the blood of those three people on his hands tonight because he IS directly responsible, unlike the millions of Republicans in this country you want to charge with that woman's death. I hope Mr. Newsom has sense enough (to use your lovely words) to be embarrassed and SICKENED by that. But I won't hold my breath. You have all that hatred churning around in you for an entire group of people just because they are of a thought process different from yours...you once graced me with the definition of bigot, so right back at you: bigot n. One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ. (your picture should be in Webster next to the definition) You said: "The pubs really can be a cold-blooded, mean-spirited bunch of blankety-blanks, being blind to the misery of all the hoi polloi." "(a mere 12 hours after Bush got his rocks off in the middle of all those laughing pubs)" (wow, you slipped off the highbrow intellectual vocabulary there GW) Those two quotes (there are way too many more to go hunt) meet the definition of bigot as you posted it to me. And you either don't have the sense (as you accuse me) to realize you are the very thing you accuse me of, or you know dang well you are a bigot and don't care. I would guess the former. I don't think you have any idea you are a bigot, and that's just sad. You say I am a bigot because of my stand on immigration...I am NOT against legal immigration and have no problem with immigrants as a whole...a point MS miss the point (your words) that you continue to ignore...so that blows your bigot argument right out of the water. But...sigh...ya can't see the forest for the trees. And no, you did NOT answer my question, because you can't. And that frustrates you, just like it frustrated Obama to be asked the same question by the darling of the left Katie Couric...at least she had the guts to ask, I give her that...and he never DID answer her. Because, like you...he couldn't. You painted yourself into the corner...I didn't put you there. And finally, dear whoeveryouare, hatred is a wasted emotion and hurts the hater much worse than the hatee. See ya! Recession, Suicide and Tips from the Government! This isn't terribly reassuring! Government website now offers 'suicide warning signs' for victims of recession John Byrne When the government starts warning you not to commit suicide, you know things have gotten bad. The remainder of the story is at: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Government_website_offers_suicide_warning_signs_0331.html Strange, they keep telling us in Oregon... That it will all come down to us. I certainly hope that's true because we hate Hillary AND McCain.
Oregon loves Obama! Wow, did you see the headline about Obama in Oregon? His rally had 65,000 yesterday with another 15,000 who couldn't fit in, plus more on boats watching from the water. That must have been something! Here's to hoping for a big margin for Obama in Oregon tomorrow and in November! Portland, Oregon. Beautiful day out. LOVE IT HERE!!! We are almost at 10% unemployment rate. People are shopping, but more looking than buying. There are still a lot of people eating out at the high end restaurants, costing anywhere from 13.00-24.00 a plate. I do not see a recession here. People still out and about and driving to places. I know lots of people who are going away out of state for spring break. I live in the burbs of Oregon in a city of 42,000. My family is getting ready for maybe a slight depression coming in the economy. I am currently taking a CERT training course in our city. To save money, my husband takes the bus in and then the MAX (electric train) into downtown Portland to work. Basically costs him nothing for gas as the company pays for it. Worry about hubby losing his job, although he says he is stable for now. I know other families who are out of work, but yet they seem to be just going along their normal business as some say they are in shock still. Hopefully their money does not run out. My husband has been laid off about 5 times in 24 years of marriage. I know what it is like for hubby to be out of work and the last time was back in 2002 for 6 months. He is in IT. All those layoffs were in the ugly desert and he** hole spot of Phoenix, AZ for 21 years of marriage and 26 years of my life. Three seasons, spring for 2 months, summer and then he** for most of the year. Talk about living in the city! We are glad to be out of there. You either like or you HATE IT! Still have lots of family living there. The housing is horrible in Phoenix. There was a lot of greed and many out of staters bought second homes in Phoenix thinking they could sell in a year or two and make money. Guess what happened? Just about everyone had the same idea and so many with subprime loans. That is why Oregon is such a great state to live in. What a turn out! We live too far away to have gone, but like the other poster I don't do well in crowds. I also saw bits and snippets of his interview on Good Morning America saying they should back off of Michelle. I think that's great that he is sticking up for her. Clearly the "other side" didn't post the message about what she was talking about and what she meant. They just took a snippet and made a commercial from it when they know that's not what she meant. Then they can sit there with a smirk on her face "she said it, it's on film" but they aren't showing what she meant, so they are purposely being deceiful. It is very low class and just too silly. What's next, they are going to find something his kids said? Also McCain and Clinton better watch out because if they go after Obama's spouse there is plenty of stuff on their spouses too. I read today that Clinton is planning to "unleash" something about Michelle and if she wants to bring anything up we've got plenty of dirt on her spouse "called impeachment". Then there is McCain's wife who is a recovering prescription drug addict and in 1994 escaped prosecution from stealing/using drugs (funny what money can buy you). Some states have passed compassionate euthanasia already, Oregon. nm x Oregon Christian Coalition Head Resigns - Family Sexual Abuse If these are *family values* then the right is RIGHT. I'm proud to say I These people get scarier and scarier every day, and I'm keeping my children Christian Coalition head to withdraw from political life 10/10/2005, 5:50 p.m. PT By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI The Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The longtime head of the Christian Coalition of Oregon I am thankful for a family that loves and supports me, and intend to withdraw Beres has denied any criminal misconduct and wrote that he will pursue the Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk told The Oregonian The three women — now adults — allege they were abused by Beres as preteens. I was molested, one of the women, now in her 50s, told The Oregonian. I was Beres, 70, has blamed personal and political enemies for the complaint. Only one of the three cases appears to fall under Oregon's statute of A nephew of Beres' is standing up for the three women. My family has gone through hell, said Richard Galat, 41, of Oakland, Calif., Lives have been ruined. Those of us who have come forward have been In response to Galat's statements, Beres said on the Christian Coalition web Beres, who did not immediately return a phone message from The Associated Jim Moore, who teaches political science at Pacific University in Forest In fact, under his leadership, the Christian Coalition in Oregon has gone In state legislative races in 2004, for example, Moore said that, we found Oregon Republican Chairman Vance Day said Beres hasn't been much of a factor I don't view this as having any major impact on politics here in Oregon; I The group did support a constitutional amendment against gay marriage that Tim Nashif, the political director of that group, said he has few details Anytime any family goes through anything like this it's a pretty grievous |
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