Fate of Doctor-Assisted Suicide Law Unknown

A stay is issued against lower-court ruling in California’s doctor-assisted suicide law.

A group of doctors and religious-affiliated people fought hard against California’s recently-passed doctor-assisted suicide law. In May 2018, the opponents of the law won a major victory, when a district court judge declared that the law violated the state’s constitution. The ruling, however, was a partial victory, because the judge did not rule on the merits of the law but declared that the manner of the law had been passed unconstitutionally.

That ruling is now in doubt, because an appeals court has issued an immediate stay of the lower court’s order, according to KVOA in “Court reinstates doctor-assisted suicide in California.”

The California law is being closely monitored by interest groups on both sides of the debate over doctor-assisted suicide. Interest groups are also following the law, because it included several provisions mandating that the state collect data about how the law was working and to issue regular reports about it.

Reference: KVOA (June 16, 2018) “Court reinstates doctor-assisted suicide in California.”