Supremes Will Rule on Oregon's Lethal Use of Controlled Drugs
by Bill Fancher
February 24, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Christian medical group is welcoming this week's U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear the federal government's challenge to Oregon's euthanasia practices.The government contends that it should have the final say in how the drugs Oregon doctors employ to kill people should be used. The Drug Enforcement Administration says using lethal doses of controlled substances is a violation of the Federal Controlled Substances Act. But when Oregon passed its euthanasia law in 1997, then-Attorney General Janet prohibited the DEA from enforcing that federal law in the state. Subsequently, Attorney General John Ashcroft reversed Reno's decision because it conflicted directly with federal law -- ultimately resulting in the case, Gonzales v. Oregon, being appealed to the Supreme Court.
Dr. David Stevens of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations says he knew this case would eventually be settled by the high court.
"The reason the government brought their original ruling is because the Supreme Court has already spoken on this issue," Stevens explains. "In a court case where California legalized medical marijuana and said they had the right to do that, the Supreme Court said no, that control stayed in the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration."
Stevens maintains that a ruling giving states the right to oversee the use of controlled substances would create a very difficult situation "... in which every state in the country decides what the Drug Enforcement Administration does now in controlling barbiturates, narcotics, and other drugs. That would just be bedlam," he says.
In contrast, says the CMDA spokesman, a favorable ruling for the government could severely cripple the euthanasia movement, dealing a huge blow to the efforts to legalize the action in other states. A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
Bill Fancher, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
