SCOTUS Upholds Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the Bush administration's attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die, protecting Oregon's one-of-a-kind assisted-suicide law. . . .

The administration improperly tried to use a federal drug law to pursue Oregon doctors who prescribe lethal doses of prescription medicines, the court said in a rebuke to former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

I'm not qualified to analyze the decision, which involved the interpretation of a specific law and not necessarily the legality or morality of physician-assisted suicide.

But, as a result of this decision, moral questions about assisted suicide and euthanasia will come up. My faith tradition, The United Methodist Church, rather bluntly says, "The Church opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia" ("The Social Principles: Suicide," The Book of Discipline 2004), though the denomination does not advocate taking extraodrinary measures to extend the lives of dying persons.

Personally, I like what UM uber-pastor Adam Hamilton says on the subject:

But there is another way [besides assisted suicide as a means of ending suffering], a way that includes doctors trained in how to treat pain and hospice workers who support you and help you find comfort, a way in which each day is considered a gift from God and is filled with purpose, a way that recognizes death not as the enemy but as the vehicle by which God prepares us for life, a way in which lessons are learned and taught. (Confronting the Controversies, p. 77)

However, I have known situations where each day of "life" could hardly be considered a gift nor "filled with purpose." In some cases a dying person's suffering is so great that assisted suicide or euthanasia seems like the only humane (or even moral) option.

While I understand moral opposition to assisted suicide, I'm not sure I understand legal opposition. From my perspective, a "right to life" implies the right not to live. Life isn't much of a right if it's forced on you.