{"id":1781961,"date":"2022-12-20T17:03:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T22:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1781961"},"modified":"2022-12-20T17:03:45","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T22:03:45","slug":"massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-against-medically-assisted-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-supreme-court-rules-against-medically-assisted-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Supreme Court Rules Against Medically-Assisted Death"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmassachusetts-supreme-court-rules-against-medically-assisted-death%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1781961&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/massachusetts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Massachusetts<\/a> Supreme Court ruled that medically-assisted death for patients with terminal illnesses is not protected under the state\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s highest court released the ruling on Monday in the conclusion to a lawsuit originally filed by Dr. Roger Kligler and another doctor in 2016 over fears of being prosecuted if he prescribed life-ending medication for terminal patients.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough we recognize the paramount importance and profound significance of all end-of-life decisions, after careful consideration, we conclude that the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights does not reach so far as to protect physician-assisted suicide,\u201d the Supreme Judicial Court <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/massachusetts-court-rules-against-medically-171804094.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in its decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe conclude as well that the law of manslaughter may prohibit physician-assisted suicide, and does so, without offending constitutional protections,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple attempts have also been made in the state\u2019s legislature to legalize medically-assisted death in Massachusetts, but no laws have reached a vote.<\/p>\n<p>The office of state Attorney General Maura Healey, which argued the case for the state, released a statement arguing that the legislature is the best place to provide guidance on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur office understands the complexities of end of life care,\u201d the attorney general\u2019s spokesperson, Jillian Fennimore, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/massachusetts-court-rules-against-medically-assisted-death\/2022\/12\/19\/3c64b81c-7fc1-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>. \u201cWe are pleased that the Court has affirmed our position that the Legislature is the most appropriate place to have a discussion about this important public policy issue. AG Healey has said she supports legislative action to allow medical aid in dying, provided it includes sufficient safeguards for both patients and providers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Chris Schandevel, whose organization filed a friend-of-the-court brief in February in support of protecting the terminally ill and disabled, shared a <a href=\"https:\/\/adflegal.org\/press-release\/ma-supreme-judicial-court-upholds-protections-terminally-ill-disabled\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> celebrating the court\u2019s ruling against medically-assisted death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery human life\u2014regardless of disability or illness\u2014has immeasurable value, and the government must do all it can to protect life, especially for the most vulnerable who cannot advocate for themselves,\u201d Schandevel said. \u201cEvery life is worth living. And we\u2019re pleased the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the commonwealth\u2019s long established legal tradition of protecting the dignity of every human life until natural death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S., several states have passed medically-assisted death laws, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Oregon. In Canada, medical assistance in dying has been legal since 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The controversial Canadian medical issue added additional provisions in March 2021. The nation\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/justice.gc.ca\/eng\/cj-jp\/ad-am\/bk-di.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eligibility requirements<\/a> currently include being 18 years old or older with decision-making capacity, having a \u201cserious and incurable illness, disease, or disability (excluding a mental illness until March 17, 2023),\u201d and being in an \u201cadvanced state of irreversible decline in capability,\u201d among other stipulations.<\/p>\n<p>As of December 2021, a total of 31,664 Canadians have received assisted deaths. \u201cOf those, 224 who died last year were not terminally ill, taking advantage of last year\u2019s amendment,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/18\/world\/canada\/medically-assisted-death.html#:~:text=Although%20the%20Canadian%20law%20was,Canadians%20have%20received%20assisted%20deaths.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Canada, 10 other countries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theweek.co.uk\/102978\/countries-where-euthanasia-is-legal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">currently allow<\/a> some form of medically-assisted death, including Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland, along with all six states of Australia.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/disabled-veteran-and-paralympian-asked-for-a-wheelchair-ramp-canadas-va-offered-to-help-her-commit-suicide-instead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> earlier this month about a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/canada-offered-assisted-suicide-paralympian-veteran-wanted-wheelchair-lift-installed-report?intcmp=tw_pols\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disabled veteran<\/a> in Canada who requested a wheelchair ramp for her home. Someone in Canada\u2019s Veterans Affairs department reportedly responded to her request by offering to send her a kit that would help her to end her own life.<\/p>\n<p>Christine Gauthier, a 52-year-old retired corporal who is a paraplegic, testified before Parliament, telling the House of Commons veterans affairs committee that a caseworker had offered in writing to send her a Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) kit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that medically-assisted death for patients with terminal illnesses is not protected under the state\u2019s constitution. The state\u2019s highest court released the ruling on Monday in the conclusion to a lawsuit originally filed by Dr. Roger Kligler and another doctor in 2016 over fears of being prosecuted if he prescribed life-ending &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":325,"featured_media":1781964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[4733,6202,6499,5610,10685,3807,4730,6195],"class_list":["post-1781961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-court","tag-daily","tag-death","tag-massachusetts","tag-medically-assisted","tag-rules","tag-supreme","tag-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1781961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1781964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1781961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1781961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1781961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}