RSSDWD Law under Fire
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Jusitce Department Appeal
Feb. 22, 2005
News Release
Contact: Death with Dignity National Center
communications@deathwithdignity.org / (503) 228.4415
PORTLAND, OR� This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Justice Department�s petition for Writ of Certiorari (Cert Petition) in Oregon v. Gonzales (formerly Oregon v. Ashcroft; Alberto Gonzales succeeded John Ashcroft as U.S. Attorney General earlier this month).� The litigation was initiated by the Justice Department in the autumn of 2001.� This means that Oregon�s first-in-the-nation Death with Dignity law is headed to the nation�s highest court.
Justice Department officials maintained that Oregon�s Death with Dignity law violates the Controlled Substances Act.� The State of Oregon and the Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC) sued.� A U.S. District Court Judge ruled in favor of Oregon and the National Center in 2002.� The Justice Department appealed and two years later, the Ninth Circuit Court again upheld the rights of the terminally ill and state-regulated medical practice.� Former Attorney General John Ashcroft eventually appealed his case to the Supreme Court.
��This is an opportunity for the Death with Dignity law to win at the highest level, to finally be validated on a national stage.� We are confident that states� rights and the rights of the terminally ill will carry the day,� said Portland attorney Eli D. Stutsman, who represents an Oregon physician and pharmacist on behalf of the Death with Dignity National Center.� �The people of Oregon voted twice on this law and the courts have consistently ruled in its favor.� The law has operated flawlessly for seven years (next month Oregon�s Department of Health & Human Services will release its annual report on the law�s use).� The Death with Dignity law has been a catalyst to improved end-of-life care � in Oregon and across the nation.���
The Death with Dignity National Center is prepared to meet this newest court challenge.� DDNC has been the vanguard for Oregon�s law, having worked to successfully propose, pass and defend Death with Dignity since 1994.
Stay informed on the progress of this historic case, efforts to pass Death with Dignity laws in other states, and end-of-life care, online at www.deathwithdignity.org.
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For more than 14 years, the Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC), a 501(c)(3), non-partisan, non-profit organization, has been the leading advocate in the death with dignity movement. Leaders in our organization originally wrote and have continued advocating for the Oregon Death with Dignity Law. DDNC has met these challenges through extensive legal defense of the Oregon law, education and outreach programs, and by developing and nurturing diverse financial resources with one goal in mind: to ensure DDNC's financial vitality and its position as a leader in the death with dignity movement.
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Political Action Fund
The Death with Dignity National Center partners with the Oregon Death with Dignity Political Action Fund (the Fund) to conduct lobbying and political activities in order to achieve the enactment of Death with Dignity laws in other states. The partnership resulted in tremendous success with the resounding win in the 2008 Washington Death with Dignity campaign.
Learn more about the Fund's efforts to bring dignity to people around the nation.
About Death with Dignity
The greatest human freedom is to live, and die, according to one's own desires and beliefs. The most common desire among those with a terminal illness is to die with some measure of dignity. From advance directives to physician-assisted dying, death with dignity is a movement to provide options for the dying to control their own end-of-life care.
Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC) is the leader in this movement, successfully establishing, advancing and defending the landmark Oregon Death with Dignity Act -- a national catalyst for openly discussing and actively reforming end-of-life care for those who are terminally ill.
Learn more about the National Center and our family of organizations.
Patients & Families
The Death with Dignity National Center was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Based on this commitment, we are pleased to provide you with support and information as you face the difficult challenges ahead.
Research Center
We have compiled a comprehensive collection of legal briefs, journal articles, and newspaper clippings. We invite you to explore the wide array of information we have collected throughout our history.
In our Research Center you will find frequently asked questions, the history of the death with dignity movement, state monitoring statistics, and a copy of this groundbreaking statute.
