Treasure State Judge Ignores Life's True Riches

by Tony Perkins, FRC: If Friday's ruling is not overturned, Montana could become the third U.S. state to legalize assisted suicide -- and the first to sanction it from the bench instead of the voting booth. Last week, state district Judge Dorothy McCarter issued her opinion in the case of Robert Baxler, who, according to Billings' KULR, died late Friday of incurable cancer. Using "human dignity" as justification, Judge McCarter created a "right" to euthanasia citing the state's privacy laws. In oral arguments, McCarter was unsympathetic from the start, equating euthanasia with putting down pets. "[Y]et, if we want to do it to our loved ones, it's considered murder," she said. For now, the ruling will allow "mentally competent" patients to take their lives through lethal prescriptions. State Attorney General Mike McGrath has indicated that his office will appeal.

If McCarter's opinion stands, Montana would be the only state to legalize euthanasia through the courts. In both Oregon (1997) and Washington (2008), voters approved their assisted suicide laws directly through ballot initiatives. According to the Oregon Department of Health, 341 patients have taken their own lives under the state's law. One hundred twenty-two of those deaths were funded by taxpayers through Medicare or Medicaid. Twenty experienced complications from the drugs. Proponents of assisted suicide laws say the government should have no authority to interfere in patients' lives. Sound familiar? Here the authority at issue is really a temptation: will cash-strapped governments turn more and more to euthanasia and limits on life-saving care to protect the bottom line? Montana may not wish to open such a Pandora's Box and unleash the evils of a culture of death. See also: Billings Gazette: Judge: Assisted Suicide is a Legal Right

---

Tags: assisted suicide, Family Research Council, FRC, judicial activism, Montana, Tony Perkins To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!