No constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, Massachusetts’ top court rules

The top court in Massachusetts has ruled that doctors have no right to prescribe lethal drugs for patients with terminal illnesses under the state’s constitution, dealing a blow to advocates who hoped the state would be the first in the nation to guarantee such a constitutional right.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled 4-2 against the lawsuit filed in 2016 by a doctor seeking to overturn the commonwealth’s common-law prohibition on physician-assisted suicide. The ruling leaves doctors who prescribe such drugs liable to be prosecuted for manslaughter.

“Although we recognize the paramount importance and profound significance of all end-of-life decisions, after careful consideration, we conclude that the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights does not reach so far as to protect physician-assisted suicide,” the majority opinion states.

“We conclude as well that the law of manslaughter may prohibit physician-assisted suicide, and does so, without offending constitutional protections.”

The lawsuit was filed by Dr. Roger Kilger, a retired doctor diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and a doctor who feared he could be prosecuted for prescribing lethal drugs to terminally-ill patients…. (Excerpt from The Christian Post)