California appeals to defend law allowing life-ending drugs
UPDATE: 5/22/2018 10:34 a.m. California’s attorney general has appealed a judge’s decision to toss a 2016 state law allowing the terminally ill to end their lives.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday asked for a stay and reversal of a judge’s ruling last week that the law was unconstitutionally approved by the state Legislature.
Becerra says the law was legitimately passed during a special legislative session on health issues.
The judge found the session was dedicated to other topics and the law shouldn’t have been included.
He didn’t address the legal issue of whether it was proper to let people end their own lives.
The law lets adults obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor has determined they have six months or less to live. Groups challenged the law in court.
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5/16/2018 11:03 a.m. California’s attorney general plans to appeal a Riverside County judge’s ruling blocking a 2016 state law that allows adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement Wednesday that he will seek an expedited review in an appeals court.
He says he strongly disagrees with Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia’s ruling Tuesday that lawmakers illegally passed the law during a special session devoted to other topics. The judge gave Becerra five days to appeal.
The law allows adults to obtain life-ending drugs if a doctor determines they have six months or less to live.
Opponents say it lacks safeguards to prevent abuses.
An advocacy group estimates that in its first year 504 Californians requested prescriptions for medical aid in dying.
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A California judge has thrown out a 2016 state law allowing the terminally ill to end their lives, ruling it was unconstitutionally approved by the Legislature.
Lawyers for advocates and opponents say Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia did not rule on the legality of physician-assisted death. He issued an oral ruling Tuesday saying lawmakers acted illegally in passing the law during a special session devoted to other topics.
Ottolia kept the law in place and gave the state attorney general five days to appeal.
The Life Legal Defense Foundation, American Academy of Medical Ethics and several physicians brought the lawsuit.
The law allows terminally ill adults to obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor has determined they have six months or less to live.
