Montana Judge Rules There is a “Right” to Assisted Suicide in That State
Using Montana’s state privacy provision as her rationale, Montana State District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter ruled on Friday that there is a “right” to assisted suicide in that state. The ruling makes Montana the third state in which assisted suicide is legal.
Assistant Montana Attorney General Anthony Johnston said the ruling will appealed and said, ” The laws governing the medical profession say the medical profession is to heal, not to kill.”
Euthanasia proponents have not been able to get their way in the legislatures or voting booths in most states and have been increasingly turning to the courts to push their agenda.
Nationally known expert on assisted suicide suicide and euthanasia Wesley Smith said, “…why have legislatures when we have judges to make these crucial decisions for us and spare us the democratic debate? The USA is quickly becoming a not very free country.”
Smith said McCarter’s ruling was so broad that it could be interpreted to apply well beyond physician-assisted suicide and terminally ill patients.
“Death With Dignity”… sounds so compassionate, doesn’t it? But consider the following:
- Patients are misdiagnosed and could make an irreversible decision to die based on the wrong information.
- A government-ordered study in the Netherlands, where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been practiced for many years, found that 65 % of family physicians are of the opinion that a doctor may offer the choice of euthanasia to a patient who has not asked for it.
- Because patients are strongly influenced by doctors, a vulnerable patient may feel there is not other alternative if his or her doctor recommends death.
- Who can confirm that the euthanasia or assisted suicide choice was freely made when the only witness is dead?
- If society endorses assisted suicide and euthanasia, it will “teach” the weak and frail that they have a “duty” to die.
- Patients suffering from depression may request death, not knowing that their quality of life can be improved with proper treatment.
- Although some believe assisted suicide and euthanasia are needed to relieve pain, modern pain control techniques eliminate this reason.
Euthanasia proponents are buoyed by the Montana court ruling. Wisconsin will likely see yet another onerous bill to legalize assisted suicide. Stay tuned!
Sue Armacost