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February 22, 2005
Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Welcomes U.S. Supreme Court Review of
Attorney General’s Power to Override
Oregon’s Assisted Suicide Law
Today, the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s
largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization – through its
Institute for Public Affairs, welcomed the decision by the United
States Supreme Court to review the power of the U.S. Attorney
General to block the State of Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law
permitting assisted suicide.
At issue in the case is a November, 2001 directive issued by
then-Attorney General Ashcroft to the D.E.A. Administrator which
reinstated the understanding of the federal Controlled Substances
Act that was in place until former-Attorney General Reno issued a
policy directive allowing the use of federally controlled drugs
for assisted suicides in June, 1998. The Attorney General’s
directive determined “that assisting suicide is not a ‘legitimate
medical purpose’ within the meaning of [the Controlled Substances
Act]” and, just as significantly, the directive stated that the
use of federally controlled drugs for pain treatment ought to be
“promoted.” The State of Oregon challenged the directive in
defense of its “Death With Dignity” law and a federal trial court
ruled in the State’s favor in April, 2001.
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations has worked diligently
in recent years with other concerned groups such as the American
Medical Association and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to
achieve this policy goal. The Union worked on a bipartisan basis
with Senators Don Nickles (R-OK) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) to
achieve this result legislatively through the Pain Relief
Promotion Act of 2000, but was unsuccessful.
Nathan Diament, director of the Union’s Institute, issued the
following statement:
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations supports the position
taken by the Attorney General and the Bush Administration which
pursues a policy consistent with ancient Jewish values recognizing
the infinite value and sanctity of human life and seeking to
preserve it, while at the same time taking all responsible
measures to comfort the ill. The Bible instructs us to “surely
heal” the ill, not to speed their departure from this earth. The
Attorney General’s directive restricting the resort to physician
assisted suicide was the correct law and policy on this matter,
and, we believe, well within the power of the federal government
to determine.
The Union expects to file a “friend of the court” brief in support
of the Attorney General’s position when the high court hears the
case next fall. More information about the Union’s activities and
the perspective of Orthodox Judaism on this issue can be accessed
at
http://www.ou.org/public/Publib/suicide.htm
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