Judges ruled that assisted suicide is not a “fundamental right,” and removing residency restrictions opens up the state to become a hub for “suicide tourism.”
A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently issued a ruling that assisted suicide is not a fundamental privilege that the state of New Jersey must extend to residents from other states. New Jersey is currently one of 12 states, plus the District of Columbia, that allow doctors to prescribe medication that terminally ill patients, who are expected to die within six months, may self-administer to end their lives.
The lawsuit was originally filed by one Delaware resident, one Philadelphia resident, and two New Jersey doctors. They claimed that the residency requirement violated the privileges and immunities clause in the U.S. Constitution, which requires states to protect fundamental rights and privileges of out-of-state residents within their borders.
“New Jersey has sound reasons to limit this grave choice to its own residents,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote in the opinion. “Protecting vulnerable patients and their doctors (not to mention avoiding friction with other states) justifies the residency requirement under any applicable test.”
“In our federal system, states are free to experiment with policies as grave as letting doctors assist suicide. Other states are free to keep it a crime,” Judge Bibas wrote, adding that assisted suicide “does not appear to be a fundamental privilege, let alone a fundamental right, that states must accord visitors.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For discernment for all of the federal judges as they regularly hear challenges to U.S. and state laws.
- For legislators in Congress and state assemblies as they determine legal health standards and rights.
- For God’s peace and comfort for those facing terminal illnesses in the U.S.
Sources: Life News, New Jersey Monitor,
