Press Release

Humanists Stand by Death with Dignity:
AHA Uneasy About Supreme Court Hearing Oregon Case

For Immediate Release - Contact: Roy Speckhardt (202) 238-9088
rspeckhardt@americanhumanist.org - www.americanhumanist.org

(Washington, DC, February 22, 2005) The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a case challenging America’s only assisted suicide law. “We meet the Court’s announcement to review Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act with trepidation. If it’s ruled to be unconstitutional, it will mean more extensive suffering for the terminally ill,” states Mel Lipman, president of the American Humanist Association.

“Americans have worked hard to protect their freedom of choice. In the last four years we’ve seen a legislative and administrative roll back of civil liberties and freedom of conscience—-now it's up to the Court to uphold human dignity,” adds Lipman.

In 1997 the Supreme Court unanimously held that the U.S. Constitution doesn't provide specific protections to physician-assisted suicide. In the Oregon case, the Court will determine whether Congress may prohibit a state from permitting it, and will review whether or not the Controlled Substances Act allows the Justice Department to override state law.

The AHA firmly believes that death is part of the human condition and that the dying are entitled to end their lives with dignity. By aiming to provide comfort to the terminally ill and by giving doctors latitude in making the dying process as comfortable as possible for their patients, the Oregon law makes death with dignity a welcome reality. “Efforts to thwart such legislation are a slap in the face to those of us who believe that all humans, healthy or less fortunate, should be treated with respect and compassion,” continues Lipman.

“This is about comfort through the living years—-including those in unyielding pain in the last stages of their life,” he concludes.

The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive nontheistic outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity .

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