Montana Supreme Court to Hear Assisted-Suicide Case
Posted:
09/1/09
The Montana Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow in an assisted-suicide case that could make Montana the first state to enshrine medical aid in dying as a constitutional right.
The seven-member Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling in December that physicians can hasten a terminally ill patient's death. That decision came on the same day that the plaintiff in the case, a 76-year-old truck driver suffering from leukemia, died. The truck driver had claimed that a doctor's refusal to help him die violated his rights under the Montana constitution.
Washington and Oregon allow doctors to assist the terminally ill in arranging their deaths, but neither state has declared it a constitutional right, the New York Times reported. Both states passed assisted-suicide laws through voter referendums on the issue.
Montana's constitution has a strong libertarian strain that emphasizes individual rights.
The seven-member Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling in December that physicians can hasten a terminally ill patient's death. That decision came on the same day that the plaintiff in the case, a 76-year-old truck driver suffering from leukemia, died. The truck driver had claimed that a doctor's refusal to help him die violated his rights under the Montana constitution.
Washington and Oregon allow doctors to assist the terminally ill in arranging their deaths, but neither state has declared it a constitutional right, the New York Times reported. Both states passed assisted-suicide laws through voter referendums on the issue.
Montana's constitution has a strong libertarian strain that emphasizes individual rights.