NY’s Highest Court Rejects Assisted Suicide

New York's highest court unanimously upheld the state's ban on assisted suicide, rejecting a bid from advocates to declare it a constitutional right.

Three plaintiffs—two of whom died before the court ruled; one of whom is in remission—asked the court to declare a constitutional right to assisted suicide for terminally ill patients and protect from prosecution any doctor who participated in the suicide. The court rejected the plaintiffs in a 5-0 ruling, saying the constitution contained no such right.

"We reject plaintiffs' argument that an individual has a fundamental constitutional right to aid-in-dying as they define it," the court ruled. "We also reject plaintiffs' assertion that the State's prohibition on assisted suicide is not rationally related to legitimate state interests."

The court said the plaintiffs' complaint "would require that we read into the statutes words and meaning wholly absent from their text," and the state prohibition contained "no exceptions" to the criminal prosecution of those who participate in a suicide. It also drew a clear definition between refusing medical treatment that would further delay death and actively committing suicide, pointing to the intent of each practice.

"The State also has a significant interest in preserving life and preventing suicide, a serious public health problem," the court ruled. The ruling won support from anti-assisted suicide advocates. J.J. Hanson, founder of the anti-euthanasia Patient Rights Action Fund, hailed the court's decision as a victory for "truth and compassion."

"Today New York State’s high court has ruled unanimously in favor of truth and compassion as they affirmed the constitutionality of New York’s prohibition of assisted suicide," Hanson said in a statement. " We applaud the court for its decision to protect the vulnerable."

Read more at The Washington Free Beacon