SW News: The Supreme Court in the US state of Massachusetts issued a verdict on Monday saying that the constitution of the state does not enshrine the right to physician-assisted suicide. The pro-life ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a retired doctor who suffers from prostate cancer and another physician who is ready to prescribe euthanasia drugs but fears prosecution.

It was cancer patient Roger Kliger and Dr Alan Steinbach who argued that applying manslaughter laws to physician-assisted dying did not agree with their equal protection under the constitution of the state. Justice Frank Gaziano said in the verdict that in spite of the fact that the court gives due respect to the “profound significance of all end-of-life decisions, the constitution of Massachusetts does not enshrine the right to physician-assisted suicide.
He added that euthanasia poses both philosophical and regulatory questions “best left to the democratic process, where their resolution can be informed by robust public debate and thoughtful research by experts in the field."

The plaintiffs first filed the lawsuit in 2016 and they were appealing a judge’s verdict of 2019 that dismissed their arguments. Both of them enjoy the support of Compassion and Choices, a group that champions medical aid in dying.

Justice Gaziano said the claims made by Kliger should be dismissed because he himself does not have a prognosis that he has only six months to live. On the contrary, he argued in court that the terminally ill who are left with no more than six months to live have to be given physician-assisted suicide.

In the United States, 10 states and the District of Columbia allow euthanasia.
While pro-lifers in Massachusetts hailed the verdict, it was deplored by Compassion and Choices. They termed it a setback and pledged to turn their attention to the state legislature.