Lower Court Holding
Decision of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
A doctor, a pharmacist, several terminally ill patients, and the State of Oregon challenge an interpretive rule issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft which declares that physician-assisted suicide violates the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA). This so-called "Ashcroft Directive" criminalizes conduct specifically authorized by Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. We hold that the Ashcroft Directive is unlawful and unenforceable because it violates the plain language of the CSA, contravenes Congress’s express legislative intent, and oversteps the bounds of the attorney general’s statutory authority. To be perfectly clear, we take no position on the merits or morality of physician-assisted suicide….
