supreme court

Court's Assisted Suicide Verdict Encourages Other States

By John Jessup
Washington Correspondent

CBN.com –WASHINGTON - Once again the Supreme Court has demonstrated just how much power it has in our everyday lives.

The court upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law, so doctors can help seriously ill patients die.

The ruling is yet another example of why it matters so much just who sits on the high court.

The Supreme Court ruling to uphold Oregon's doctor-assisted suicide law drew a line in the sand, showing the boundary between people's personal affairs and the government's authority to intervene. It also opens the door for the debate to continue.

Supporters say this was the right decision for such a sensitive matter concerning life and death.

Breast cancer patient Char Andrews said, “It helps put me at ease, knowing that it is going to be there…”

Opponents believe it runs counter-culture for doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to help suffering patients die. But the law became a reality when Oregonians twice passed the measure at the polls, and it became a target of the Bush administration, which tried to prosecute those doctors who helped terminally-ill patients die.

Other states, like California, are looking moving forward with their own versions of the law, after Tuesday’s ruling.

“I believe it is only going to help our momentum, in terms of getting our bill through the process and to the governor's desk,” said Rep. Patty Berg of the California State Assembly.

Three justices dissented from the majority opinion: Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Chief Justice John Roberts - his first. If confirmed, another conservative voice could join them: Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

This case is one example of why there is such intense political fighting these days over judges and the courts, as seen in the Alito hearings. Liberal Opponents don't want him on the bench because they fear he will tip the court to the right, especially on cultural issues.

And although they are expected to vote against him, a Democrat in the "Gang of 14" - Nebraska's Ben Nelson - says he will vote for Alito who could rule on issues ranging from assisted suicide to eminent domain, cases that show the ever-reaching influence of the courts in the daily lives of Americans.

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