Challenge to Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law

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In 1997, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that there is no constitutional "right to die," but also said that physician assisted suicide should be left to the states--so that what it called a "profound debate" could continue. Oregon voters twice approved the so-called "Death with Dignity Act," and it's been in effect for eight years. Now, the Bush Justice Department has challenged it, claiming that any doctor who prescribes a lethal dose of medicine has violated the federal law on "controlled substances." A lower court rejected that claim, and now the Supreme Court will hear the Administration's appeal. We hear from an Oregon cancer patient who wants to die and from lawyers and doctors on both sides of the issue.
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President Bush, Chancellor Schroder discuss partnership

Oregon's Death with Dignity Act

Washington v Glucksberg (1997)

Ashcroft v Oregon


Warren Olney