A New Mexico court ruled Monday that physicians cannot be prosecuted for prescribing drugs to aid the deaths of terminally ill, competent patients who want to end their lives, according to an Albuquerque Journal report.
Judge Nan Nash of the Second District Court in Albuquerque ruled on the case, which was brought by two oncologists from Albuquerque-based University of New Mexico Hospital, according to the report. They sought protection against prosecution if they aided the death of a cancer patient who has testified about her desire for peace of mind about end-of-life options.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and advocacy group Compassion & Choices argued the physicians' case, contending that a physician who helps a competent, terminally ill patient hasten death is not covered by a 1963 New Mexico statute that makes it a felony to assist suicide.
The state, however, contended that suicide assistance from a physician does fall under the law.
"This court cannot envision a right more fundamental, more private or more integral to the liberty, safety and happiness of a New Mexican than the right of a competent, terminally ill patient to choose aid in dying," Judge Nash wrote. She agreed that the state law applied, but said the competent, terminally ill patient's choice to seek help in dying is a fundamental right under the state constitution.
The New Mexico Attorney General's Office said it was studying the decision and whether to appeal to the State Supreme Court, according to a New York Times report.
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