A Riverside County judge overturned California’s physician-assisted suicide law on Tuesday, giving the state attorney general five days to file an appeal to keep the law in place.
California’s law, which allows terminally ill patients to request lethal medications from their doctors, has been the subject of a fierce and emotional debate since it was approved in 2015. The state was the fifth in the nation to legalize the practice.
Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia said Tuesday that the California Legislature violated the law by passing the End of Life Option Act during a special session dedicated to healthcare issues, according to the plaintiffs in the case as well as advocates for the law.
“We’re very happy with the decision today,” said Alexandra Snyder, head of the Life Legal Defense Foundation, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit. “We will now wait and see what the attorney general does.”
In a statement emailed to The Times, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said: “We strongly disagree with this ruling and the state is seeking expedited review in the Court of Appeal.”
Harry Nelson, a healthcare attorney in Los Angeles, said he thinks it’s unlikely the law will be overturned permanently. He said that even if the court’s decision stands, the Legislature would probably be able to reinstate the law with whatever changes the court deems necessary.
The suit was originally filed on the day the law took effect two years ago. That day, a judge denied a temporary restraining order that would have stopped the law from being enacted.
Full story at LA Times.
Reads like a temporary victory at best for those opposed to the law.
“Legislating from the bench” has been knocked back for the moment.
“Faithful and True” is uninformed.
The Riverside judge held to the law and understood that the Death Camp activists in the Legislature knew they could not get this unprecedented bill through the normal channels, so they ramrodded it through a Special Session inappropriate for such a bill.
It is the Attorney General Xavier Becerra who is part of the Death Camp and must strut his stuff in order to one day become the replacement for Jerry Brown. This is the same Becerra who is leading the assault against David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress.
As Catholics, Bishops once spoke about mortal sins. Many more innocent vulnerable people will be killed with lethal doses provided by Death Camp doctors right here in…
In Oregon some insurance companies will pay for lethal injections for “euthanasia” (supposed suicides) but not for cancer medication nor for pain killers until the person actually dies from the disease,, The first is murder, especially since it gives the patients no options and the last is normal compassion for the sick and dying. Remember, people, what goes around sooner or later comes around. Making killers of doctors is dangerous to all of us.
Incredibly, the Democratic Party always stands with the Culture of Death. They will reverse this ruling, for it is against for their Cultural Marxism governance program. Congratulations to those who fought for the Culture of Life.