Subject:  Court Ok's Assisted Suicide
Author:  CourtTV
Uploaded By:  CourtTV
Date:  3/15/1996

File:  assist.txt (297791 bytes) 
Estimated Download Time (53797 baud):  < 1 minute
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A federal appeals court ruled on March 6, 1996, that the state of Washington's ban on doctor-assisted suicide was 
unconstitutional. The case was the first of its kind to be be decided by a full federal appeals court.
In the ruling, Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Washington's ban violates the rights of a mentally competent, terminally ill adult to have "a dignified and humane death."
While the state normally tries to preserve life, the judge wrote, "when patients are no longer able to pursue liberty or happiness and do not wish to pursue life, the state's interest in forcing them to remain alive is less compelling."
This file contains the majority and the dissenting opinions.