The following comes from an August 14 CBS San Francisco article:

A San Francisco Superior Court judge Friday upheld the enforcement of California laws dating back 141 years barring physician-assisted suicide after hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by several terminally ill patients.

Several plaintiffs including Christy O’Donnell and her Bay Area doctor, Robert Brody, brought the San Francisco lawsuit asking that doctors be allowed to provide such treatment to patients who are mentally competent without fear of prosecution.

Defending the law, California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office wrote in recent court papers, “California law prohibits assisted suicide without exception.”

“While plaintiffs pose many difficult policy questions worthy of public debate, it is for the Legislature, not this court, to grapple with these important policy issues,” the state attorney general’s said in court documents.

The judge repeatedly expressed concern Friday about the possibility that, if the law was changed, a patient who is suffering financially from a terminal illness would be able to choose to die simply because their family wasn’t able to afford their continued medical expenses.