ACLJ Files Brief in Support of Attorney General Ashcroft in Legal Challenge of Physician-Assisted Suicided in Oregon

September 30, 2002

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm that specializes in pro-life issues, today filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - supporting U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's effort to give federal drug agents the go-ahead to take action against doctors in Oregon who assist terminally ill patients commit suicide.

"The position of the Attorney General is legally correct and constitutionally sound," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "This is a critical case that centers on the defense of human life - a case that focuses on the federal government's right to legally prohibit physicians from prescribing life-ending medication to assist patients commit suicide. The Attorney General clearly has the authority to use a federal statute to prevent physicians from assisting in taking the lives of terminally ill patients."

In April 2002, a federal judge in Portland, Oregon blocked the Justice Department from using the Controlled Substances Act to prevent physicians in Oregon from prescribing life-ending drugs to patients who want to commit suicide. In a directive issued in November 2001, Attorney General Ashcroft said that assisting in suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" and stated that physicians who prescribed life-ending drugs would lose their licenses to prescribe federally controlled drugs.

In its brief filed today with the federal appeals court in San Francisco, the ACLJ contends that there is legal precedence - including decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court - that permits the Justice Department to legally determine that suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" and that physicians who prescribe life-ending medication could be punished under the Controlled Substances Act. The ACLJ brief is posted at its Website at www.aclj.org.

The Justice Department filed its appeal with the 9th circuit last week concluding that "the Attorney General has permissibly concluded that suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose."

The ACLJ is an international public interest law firm that specializes in constitutional law and works to protect the sanctity of human life. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and its web site address is www.aclj.org.