Skip to main content

California attorney general appeals judge's decision to overturn physician-assisted suicide law Soumya Karlamangla By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA

California attorney general appeals judge's decision to overturn physician-assisted suicide lawCalifornia Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Monday filed an appeal against a judge's recent ruling overturning the state's physician-assisted suicide law.
The controversial law, which allows terminally ill patients to request lethal medications from their doctors, has been the subject of litigation since it was enacted two years ago.
Last week, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia ruled that the law's passage was unconstitutional and the law should be overturned.

Becerra's action Monday moves the case to an appeals court, which will decide the future of the law. He also asked that the law stay in place while the matter is further litigated, a request that will most likely be granted, said Kathryn Tucker, an attorney who heads the End of Life Liberty Project at UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy.

"I do not believe there will be a period of time in which the implementation of this statute will be interrupted," Tucker said.

The state's End of Life Option Act allows terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to request end-of-life drugs from their doctors, a practice that has been allowed in Oregon for more than 20 years. Now, nearly 1 in 5 Americans lives in a state where physician-assisted suicide is legal, according to advocacy group Compassion and Choices.

California's legislation was passed in 2015 during a special legislative session dedicated to healthcare issues. Ottolia ruled that the state Legislature violated the state's constitution by approving the law during the session, as it wasn't a healthcare matter.

Becerra's appeal called that ruling erroneous, citing the message Gov. Jerry Brown released when he signed the bill into law.

In the message, Brown said he was unsure what he would want if he were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. But, he wrote, he imagined "it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn't deny that right to others."

"The enactment fell within the scope of the special session called, in part, to consider efforts to 'improve the efficiency and efficacy of the health care system ... and improve the health of Californians,' " the appeal reads. "As the Governor indicated, the Act deals with pain, suffering, and the comfort of having the health care options afforded by the Act."

Becerra also wrote that overturning the law immediately would leave healthcare practicioners facing possible criminal prosecution and terminally ill patients who qualify under the law left to "die an excruciating, painful death."

The case will now be taken up in the 4th District Court of Appeal. If the court upholds the law, the plaintiffs could then ask the state Supreme Court to review the case.

The push for physician-assisted suicide in California came after Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old Californian with brain cancer, moved to Oregon to take advantage of its end-of-life law.

In the first six months California's law was in effect, more than 100 people made use of it to end their lives. Fifty-nine percent of them had cancer, according to state data.

Writing the lethal prescriptions is voluntary for doctors and medical facilities in California, and some, including all Catholic and church-affiliated hospitals, have not allowed their physicians to prescribe such medicines.

California's data from the law's first six months show that 173 physicians wrote the 191 prescriptions statewide.

soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mona Farouk reveals scenes of "scandalous video"Egyptian actress Mona Farouk appeared on

Mona Farouk reveals scenes of "scandalous video"Egyptian actress Mona Farouk appeared on Monday in a video clip to discuss the details of the case she is currently facing. She recorded the first video and audio statements about the scandalous video that she brings together with Khaled Youssef.Farouk detonated several surprises, on the sidelines of her summons to the Egyptian prosecution, that Khalid Youssef was a friend of her father years ago, when she was a young age, and then collected a love relationship with him when she grew up, and married him in secret with the knowledge of her parents and her father and brother because his social status was not allowed to declare marriage .Muna Farouk revealed that the video was filmed in a drunken state. She and her colleague Shima al-Hajj said that on the same day the video was filmed, she was at odds with Shima, and Khaled Yusuf repaired them and then drank alcohol.She confirmed that Youssef was the one who filmed the clips whil

الحلقة 20 هنادي المطلقة والمحلل (ماذا قال كتاب العرب في هنادي)-----------Khalid Babiker

• الجنس شعور فوضوي يتحكم في الذات والعقل . وله قوة ذاتية لا تتصالح إلا مع نفسها . هكذا قال أنصار المحلل الحلقة 20 هنادي المطلقة والمحلل (ماذا قال كتاب العرب في هنادي) أول طريق عبره الإنسان هو طريق الذكر . بعدها شهق وصرخ . تمرغ في الزيت المقدس . وجرب نشوة الأرغوس . عاجلا أم آجلا سيبحث عن هذا الطريق ( كالأسماك تعود إلى أرض ميلادها لتبيض وتموت ) . وسيعبره . سيعبره بحثا عن الديمومة . وسيشهق وسيضحك . لقد جاء إليه غريبا . سيظل بين جدرانه الدافئة غريبا . وحالما يدفع تلك الكائنات الحية الصغيرة المضطربة في الهاوية الملعونة سيخرج فقيرا مدحورا يشعر بخيانة ما ( ..... ) . لن ينسى الإنسان أبدا طريق الذكر الذي عبره في البدء . سيتذكره ليس بالذاكرة وإنما بالذكر . سيعود إليه بعد البلوغ أكثر شوقا وتولعا . ولن يدخل فيه بجميع بدنه كما فعل في تلك السنوات التي مضت وإنما سيدخل برأسه . بعد ذلك سيندفع غير مبال بالخطر والفضيحة والقانون والدين . الله هناك خلف الأشياء الصغيرة . خلف كل شهقة . كل صرخة مندفعا في الظلام كالثور في قاعة المسلخ . الله لا يوجد في الأشياء الكبيرة . في الشرانق . في المح . ينشق فمه . تن

Trusting Liar (#5) Leave a reply

Trusting Liar (#5) Leave a reply Gertruida is the first to recover.  “Klasie… ?” “Ag drop the pretence, Gertruida. You all call me ‘Liar’ behind my back, so why stop now? Might as well be on the same page, yes?” Liar’s face is flushed with anger; the muscles in his thin neck prominently bulging. “That diamond belongs to me. Hand it over.” “What are you doing? Put away the gun…” “No! This…,” Liar sweeps his one hand towards the horizon, “…is my place.  Mine!   I earned it! And you…you have no right to be here!” “Listen, Liar, we’re not the enemy. Whoever is looking for you with the aeroplane and the chopper….well, it isn’t us. In fact, we were worried about you and that’s why we followed you. We’re here to help, man!” Vetfaan’s voice is pleading as he takes a step closer to the distraught man. “Now, put down the gun and let’s chat about all this.” Liar hesitates, taken aback after clearly being convinced that the group  had hostile intentions. “I…I’m not sure I believe