Ruling May Delay Appeal Of Assisted-Suicide Law High Court Decision To Hear Cases Puts Oregon On Hold

A U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear assisted suicide cases from New York and Washington probably will delay the appeal of Oregon’s assisted-suicide law.

The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to rule whether states may ban doctor-assisted suicide.

The Oregon assisted-suicide law was approved by a narrow majority of voters in a 1994 initiative that has been blocked from taking effect by U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan, pending its appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Attorneys said Tuesday that they expected the 9th Circuit judges to wait until the Supreme Court decision before ruling in the Oregon case.

They disagreed, however, as to how relevant that decision will be to the Oregon law.

If the Supreme Court rules that states do have a constitutional right to ban assisted suicide, it will be up to the individual states to decide whether to do so.

But if the Supreme Court rejects a ban, “it signals a very clear and easy victory” for the Oregon law, said Eli Stutsman, attorney for Oregon Death With Dignity.

The 9th Circuit in March struck down a Washington state law that barred doctor-assisted suicide, ruling that the law violates due process rights.

“The court was essentially saying the people should decide,” Stutsman said. “In Oregon, we did that.”

Thomas Balmer, an assistant state attorney general who defended the Oregon law in court, said the constitutional issues are different in Washington and New York.

The other cases involve whether assisted-suicide laws discriminate or fail to protect the public, Balmer said. But the main question in Oregon is whether states have a right to pass an assisted-suicide law - not how the law is worded.

He compared it with laws about divorce or drunken driving, saying the state must decide policy when it comes to social issues.

“We’ve never argued there is constitutional right to assisted suicide,” Balmer said, “only that the state has a right to decide the issue.”

James Bopp, an Indiana lawyer who has led the fight against the Oregon law, said the Supreme Court has asked to hear arguments by January, indicating the justices want to speed the decision along.