Constitutional Law

Mont. Court Upholds Constitutional Right To Die For Terminally Ill Patients

Terminally ill patients in Montana have a constitutional right to end their lives, a state district judge has ruled. State District Judge Dorothy McCarter ruled recently in Baxter v. State of Montana, that a terminally ill Montana man had a constitutional right to obtain medical help to die. McCarter wrote, “The Montana constitutional rights of individual privacy and human dignity, taken together, encompasses the right of a competent terminally (ill) patient to die with dignity.”

McCarter said that constitutional right also “includes protection of the patient’s physician from liability under the state’s homicide statutes.” The nonprofit advocacy group, Compassion & Choices, represented the Billings man, Robert Baxter, before the court. The group’s legal director Kathryn Tucker argued the case along with a Missoula attorney, Mark Connell. In a press release, Tucker said, “This ruling is consistent with a long line of cases recognizing that Montana’s Constitution protects the decision-making power of its citizens in the most intimate and personal areas of their lives. The court found that the decision of a dying patient whether to endure further suffering or, instead, to cut such suffering short, is an intensely personal, private decision which must be reserved to the individual.”
 

Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath told the Billings Gazette that he expects the state to appeal the ruling. “It’s a major constitutional issue, and the Supreme Court should rule on it,” he said.

Oregon has a death with dignity act, and voters in Washington State approved one in November. In an ACS Issue Brief, Tucker examined Oregon’s experience with the law and concluded that it had benefited patients and urged other states to follow its example. Tucker’s Issue Brief is available here.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on December 08, 2008 (boomark / email).