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WASHINGTON-- The Supreme Court upheld Oregon's one-of-a-kind physician-assisted suicide law Tuesday, rejecting a Bush administration attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die. Justices, on a 6-3 vote, said that a federal drug law does not override the 1997 Oregon law used to end the lives of more than 200 seriously ill people. New Chief Justice John Roberts backed the Bush administration, dissenting for the first time. The administration improperly tried to use a drug law to punish Oregon doctors who prescribe lethal doses of prescription medicines, the court majority said. Congress did not have this far-reaching intent to alter the federal-state balance, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for himself, retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. Kennedy is expected to become a more influential swing voter after O'Connor's departure. He is a moderate conservative who sometimes joins the liberal wing of the court in cases involving such things as gay rights and capital punishment. The ruling was a reprimand to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who in 2001 said that doctor-assisted suicide is not a legitimate medical purpose and that Oregon physicians would be punished for helping people die under the law. Kennedy said the authority claimed by the attorney general is both beyond his expertise and incongruous with the statutory purposes and design. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for himself, Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, said that federal officials have the power to regulate the doling out of medicine. If the term 'legitimate medical purpose' has any meaning, it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death, he wrote. Scalia said the court's ruling is perhaps driven by a feeling that the subject of assisted suicide is none of the federal government's business. It is easy to sympathize with that position. Oregon's law covers only extremely sick people-- those with incurable diseases and who are of sound mind, and after at least two doctors agree they have six months or less to live. For Oregon's physicians and pharmacists, as well as patients and their families, today's ruling confirms that Oregon's law is valid and that they can act under it without fear of federal sanctions, state Solicitor General Mary Williams said. The ruling backed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Ashcroft's unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide. Ashcroft had brought the case to the Supreme Court on the day his resignation was announced by the White House in 2004. The Justice Department has continued the case, under the leadership of his successor, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The court's ruling was not a final say on federal authority to override state doctor-assisted suicide laws-- only a declaration that the current federal scheme did not permit that. However, it could still have ramifications outside of Oregon. This is a disappointing decision that is likely to result in a troubling movement by states to pass their own assisted suicide laws, said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which backed the administration. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and a supporter of the law, said the ruling has stopped, for now, the administration's attempts to wrest control of decisions rightfully left to the states and individuals. Thomas wrote his own dissent as well, to complain that the court's reasoning was puzzling. Roberts did not write separately. Justices have dealt with end-of-life cases before. In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that terminally ill people may refuse treatment that would otherwise keep them alive. Then, justices in 1997 unanimously ruled that people have no constitutional right to die, upholding state bans on physician-assisted suicide. That opinion, by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, said individual states could decide to allow the practice. Roberts strongly hinted in October when the case was argued that he would back the administration. O'Connor had seemed ready to support Oregon's law, but her vote would not have counted if the ruling was handed down after she left the court. The case is Gonzales v. Oregon, 04-623.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © The Sun-Times Company Still not illegal I agree with Lila that I believe abortion is immoral but it's not illegal. Legality is a tangible thing and not an opinion. but just because you think it should be illegal doesn't mean that it IS illegal. U.S. law does not hinge on whether you think something should be illegal, although you certainly affect that outcome by your vote. Democrat, relativism will not work here. Your opinion on what reality should be does not make that reality so. I imagine a world where no unborn babies are killed, but I realize that it may never happen AND I acknowledge at this very moment that abortion is legal whether I like the fact or not. and this is illegal? x And these will be some of the illegal big O elected, should it happen. then that is illegal - grant money does not have to be counted as income, but you cannot turn around and count tuition as an expense if you received the grant money. It adds up though with just the EIC to a lot of money without adding in that other stuff. It really makes me sick! I believe in having programs to help people with childcare, food expenses, housing expense, etc., but I don't believe in just handing money to someone because they have the misfortune of making less money. It is not fair and it has been abused too much! THAT's what you got out of this...... not the law the illegal nm I don't know of any illegal immoral war This war was approved by our own elected officials in the house and senate. I won't even start on the immoral part, because you really know that's bunk too. The fact is the war is not illegal It went through all appropriate channels, and we have NEVER agreed with the U.N. to approve all military actions through them. We do have agreements, but we have NEVER given the U.N. the authority to tell us whether we will go to war or not. The congress has ultimate authority to approvate any military action we pursue, period. They approved it, so it's completely legal. That's how W got elected! U mean that was illegal! Huh! Can't imagine the pubs doing anything illegal.,,,,,,, Coz that is illegal under campaign finance law. Maybe McCain can allow homeless to stay in one of his 11 homes when he and Cindy are out flying in their personal jet?
not illegal, but definitely unethical nm shouldn't have said illegal, but does all that make you think this election is going to be legitimate? Why, oh why can't people just do things straight up and let the people really be heard. I am sick of the whole thing, and honestly do not believe it really matters who wins either way... they are all politicians Illegal immigrants..... It is estimated that there are 10 million illegal immigrants in the US. I bet it has to be to some advantage for the US, otherwise they would be persecuted more severely. What do you expect from an illegal? (sm) He's probably trying to get McCain to lend him his birth certificate. Illegal aliens are definitely hurting our country expense wise. I know they want a better life and I know they want a chance at the American dream too and I can't blame them for that. But they are going to have to do it the legal way. It almost seems like illegals have more rights than we do sometimes. Jobs are scarce as it is....we don't need illegals coming in wanting jobs too. no, they were not an illegal alien, are you? nm 
no, not an illegal alien, are you? nm
Illegal aliens http://www.kfire.us/Brochure/Publicationblue2.pdf We need to pay more attention to illegal aliens than we do. We don't want things in the US like MS 13....which unfortunately is already in the US. This gang is brutal and will do anything to anyone if they get in their way. The costs of illegal aliens Illegal aliens hurt our schools which in turn hurt our children. They are getting free healthcare in emergency rooms that taxpayers are paying for. Some of you on this board might actually want to research this a bit before you say it isn't a big deal. About illegal aliens. There was another "gathering" yesterday for the Hispanic man beaten to death almost a year ago. One of the banners stated 'Stop the raids and deportation'. The other one read 'Stop racial hatred. Stop separation of families.' and 2 others I couldn't catch. Two women from Philadelphia stated "We have to stop deporting the people. They are human beings, too." Unbelievable! There have been a total of 4 "gatherings" to honor the man that was killed. This town is 30% Hispanic now in a period of about 4 years. The background of this town and its people are mostly Polish, Irish, and Italian who came here to work in the mines in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There are only about 6,000 people in this town now. http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2009/02/15/news/local_news/pr_republican.20090215.a.pg1.pr15vigil_s1.2306408_loc.txt How many think you should bail out illegal 
Unfortunately, there is no illegal prohibition against it nm oh..he did a few things unethical and illegal Getting information about his blind trust investments and also cashing in stock within two weeks before his father and brother owned hospital corporations stock was devalued. Like what Martha Stewart did..Got an inside tip. He denied he ever knew what was in his blind trust, however, the new head of the SEC said Frist was given many updates on what stocks he had and how they were doing, which is a no no as being a lawmaker he could easily sway laws to benefit the companies he has invested in. If illegal, immoral war is genocide, then yes. be escorted to France. Show me in law were pre-emptive war is illegal Please pray tell, because the executive, judicial, legislative branches all disagree with you on that one. Sorry It's morally illegal in my opinion...nm illegal health care I so agree with you on this. I typed a lot of reports a while back that are similar to what you are typing. Also, I thought it funny how many illegal adults were getting care through the hospital as well. The only way I knew this was those who were illegal did not have SS# when every other patient did. It's sad. I took a 2nd full-time job just so I could have insurance! We are not funding an illegal immoral war... we are funding our troops in combat sent there by our duly elected Congress. There is nothing illegal about that. If you are suggesting we withdraw funding from our troops who are in combat, that is definitely UNpatriotic and I would venture to say borders on treason. And what a nice message to send to our men and women in harm's way..."you are dying for nothing in an illegal immoral war and you are taking money we could be using for extending entitlements higher up the income ladder." Yeah, that is patriotic. Oh yeah. Ask a soldier how patriotic that is. You, my friend, need to buy a vowel and get a clue yourself. And please, stop with the name calling. Your post was was judgmental, so pot calling the kettle black there. The last 4 years you have had a Congress controlled by Democrats, so any "ruining" that has been done during this time certainly has had Dem help. All of the front-running Dem candidates, Clinton, Obama and Edwards...all said at the New Hampshire debate they could not commit to having the troops out of Iraq by 2013, so for all their posturing, they are not going to end the war either. Protest may be patriotic...so should be good taste and basic care about how men and women in harm's way perceive what they hear you say and do. But of course...you don't care about that...and to me that is the height of selfishness. It is more important for you to protest than it is to support men and women in combat. In what alternate reality can you find that patrotic? Get a grip. This is illegal and against the constitution. nm . No, it wasn't right. It's unfair, & illegal. If Mrs. M thinks Fox is illegal and Rush too, obviously she's not for... free speech, and that is Marxism, socialism, and communism. The fairness doctrine is fair only to the far left media. All your civil liberties will go down the tubes, and obama supporters could care less. Ignorance at its finest. Doesn't mean I want it to be illegal at all stages because (sm) I know what the dire consequences of that would be as well. But there has to be a limit. nothing illegal has occurred until they actually vote - it is up to the pollsters to keep the people from voting illegally - if you check people's ID that should take care of the situation. Views on illegal immigrants and which ...sm presidential candidate do you think MAY do something more about it. I am sure a lot of you realize we have illegal immigrants (mostly in large number Mexican immigrants) who have swarmed into the country illegally. I have an Mexian illegal immigrant who lives near me. She is nice enough. She doesn't speak really good english. I know she got pregnant and was actually able to go to our neighboring state and apply for Medicaid to pay for her prenatal care and the child after it was born. And do you know she got Medicaid and I know for a fact she is an illegal immigrant because she told me herself. I asked and she told me. When it is possible for someone who is not even in our country legally to obtain government assistance, that is just insane. What is wrong with our country? Thoughts on illegal immigrants... Are they working on getting their citizenship. If so, what is the time frame to getting citizenship. Isn't that the name of the game? Here in ATL, it is a hot topic on the news. I just want what is fair to happen. I do want secure borders, however. My reason is to keep out terrorists. They can blend in with neighboring borders and pretend to be a citizen from that country. Remember that guy who said he wanted to learn to fly a plane but didn't want to learn how to land. why didn't red flags go up with that comment. It seems we work extra hard at keeping airports safe but not borders. and I know people get offended when you want the borders safe but those people should also want safe borders from the terrorists for their families. Don't want to offend, just want to be fair to everybody. Yes, children are but NOT the ILLEGAL PARENTS...they -- Abortion is morally illegal in my opinion. So who is right about any of this? When we look at matters such as these, we judge subjectively and that's natural. I believe we have to stop terrorism. This war is not morally illegal to me. Droves of illegal immigrants entering now...sm so what's the difference. Our great USA is in complete turmoil. Things including economy were much better when Bill Clinton was president. People could not have been in their right mind to vote for Bush twice. Agree illegal health care has got to go! I type an account where there appears to be many illegal aliens in that area, in that 90% of the babies getting tests have a hispanic last name and its often mentioned interpreters were needed to speak to the parents. Some never get a first name, I'd say at least 25% of the babies I type reports for have been in and out of intensive care for up to a year and still are going by "babyboy" or "babygirl" as a first name. Page after page of tests performed for each baby, and that's just in my specialty! We have to be spending millions on this and for what, to enourage them to come here and dump their babies at the hospital at birth and not even bother to name them? It makes me really disgusted to type the 50th report for "babyboy gonzalez" who is 18 months old and still in the ICU for congenital heart problems/lung problems, knowing darn well his healthcare is free while I can barely afford to insure my own child! We owe these illegals nothing yet we rob from our own to cater to them! Are we crazy? 
Obama receiving illegal funding. http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/241ee34b-28b0-48cf-b533-53cfa4c1d213 Read your own article. The charities are not illegal. Then try Googling the full street addresses and go to the street view feature of the addresses that DO exist. Lot of trees in front of the properties, but cars parked along a residential street. Big scandal. Maybe whoever posted the original rumor should learn how to use the Cook County Appraisal District website properly. Just because they are not able to get a hit does not mean the address does not exist. IWere they an illegal alien? Or have they come back now? // I would rather money go to illegal aliens than murder by war. Apparently, you prefer murder. I live in California, I know all about illegal aliens. I have a much bigger problem with our government murdering people overseas with unjust wars. By the way, exactly what jobs are they taking away from American citizens...picking fruits and vegetables in hot fields, scrubbing toilets in big office buildings, washing dishes at fancy restaurants? Illegal aliens do the dirty jobs that American citizens are too arrogant to do. |
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