Here's some more 'news' you probably already know: Oregon is not like the rest of the country. It's a state with its own state of mind. Oregon was fiercely pro-environment back when the rest of the country was sitting in gas-guzzlers in line to try to buy embargoed gasoline. And that's not the only trend that has come out of this verdant and independent state.
This week, the interesting news is a legal victory for the voters of Oregon (and, indeed, for supporters of the U.S. Constitution). On Wednesday of this week, federal district Judge Robert Jones gave Attorney General Ashcroft a verbal dressing-down. Ashcroft has been trying to override the voters of Oregon and prevent doctors from prescribing lethal medication when mentally competent individuals with terminal illnesses request assistance to end their suffering.
Ashcroft is opposed to anyone ending a life (except for capital punishment, military actions and individual gun owners). The thought that a person dying from cancer might not want to die in agony, apparently, pisses him off. How dare someone end their life in dignity?
Voters in Oregon have, twice, given doctors permission to assist mentally competent citizens end their lives. But the folks in D.C. don't like this. Sure, they're all for "states' rights" when it means not having to integrate schools or banning abortion. But if a state allows MD's to assist with a suicide, well, that's a horse of a different color.
However, as I said before, the judiciary has a more "constitutional" viewpoint. Specifically, Judge Jones said:
"To allow an attorney general--an appointed executive whose tenure depends entirely on whatever administration occupies the White House--to determine the legitimacy of a particular medical practice ... would be unprecedented and extraordinary,"
Damn straight!
So, the voters in Oregon still have some say in how their state will be governed. This law doesn't force doctors to assist patients with suicide. But for those who wish to, they still can. Judge Jones was so outraged at the audacity of Ashcroft that he issued a "permanent injunction" so that even if the Attorney General appeals his findings, the doctors can continue to provide this merciful assistance.
Will the administration appeal? Perhaps. But if the Constitution prevails, terminally ill citizens in Oregon will continue to have the option of ending their own suffering with the help of a compassionate physician.
Links: L.A. Times Editorial