Massachusetts' highest court on Dec. 19 rejected an effort to legalize medically assisted suicide.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state's constitution does not protect the right for physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
"Although 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," the court wrote in its opinion. "We conclude as well that the law of manslaughter may prohibit physician-assisted suicide, and does so, without offending constitutional protections."
Roger Kligler, MD, a retired physician with stage 4 prostate cancer, and Alan Steinbach, MD, a physician who treats patients nearing end of life, filed the lawsuit in 2016. They contend that terminally ill patients with six months or less to live have a constitutional right to receive a prescription for lethal medication to die at the time and manner of their choosing.
In its ruling, the court pointed to the state Legislature's authority to permit medical aid in dying.
"There is no disenfranchised group that needs constitutional protection by this court, or who cannot advocate zealously and fairly for the ability to die as they please," the court wrote. "Rather, every one of us is free to vote and encourage our legislators to enact laws, and to craft appropriate procedural safeguards, with respect to one of the only human experiences that will affect us all."