Four months after a District Court judge ruled that physician-assisted suicide is a right protected under the state's constitution, terminally ill patients say they're having trouble finding physicians willing to prescribe drugs that would hasten their deaths.
The Compassion and Choices advocacy group based in Denver held a conference call Friday to read a statement from a 67-year-old Missoula woman who is dying of ovarian cancer.
Janet Murdock's statement says she thinks her doctors don't feel able to respect her decision to seek aid in dying.
Following the December ruling by District Judge Dorothy McCarter in Helena, the Montana Medical Association adopted a policy stating the group: "does not condone the deliberate act of precipitating the death of a patient".
The President of the MMA, Doctor Kirk Stoner of Plentywood, says assisted suicide goes against the group's ethics.
(from the archives
The State of Montana has been ordered to pay the attorney fees for the plaintiffs lawyers in a right to die case.
U.S. District Judge Dorothy McCarter has given the plaintiff's lawyers 20 days to file an accounting of their fees and litigation costs with the court.
The state will then have 20 days to respond.
Last December, McCarter ruled that mentally sound, terminally ill Montanans have a constitutional right to "die with dignity", and can choose to end their lives using medication prescribed by doctors.
The state plans to appeal the ruling to the Montana Supreme Court.
(from the archives)
Terminally ill patients in Montana will have the right to die with dignity while the state challenges a court ruling in the case.
Judge Dorothy McCarter ruled on December 5th that terminally patients have a right to die, and that doctors who help them will not be prosecuted under homicide statutes.
The Montana Attorney General's office asked her to put that ruling aside while it is appealed, but McCarter says she denied the request for three reasons.
The court believes the Montana Supreme Court will affirm the lower court ruling; the constitutional interests protected by the court's decision are fundamental; and a stay would deny the fundamental right of Montanans to die with dignity during a long appeals process.
"We argued as forcefully as we could that the constitution provides this right to terminally ill Montanans, and the court agreed, and the particular grounds that she based her decision on December 5th were ones that we agreed (with) wholeheartedly" explained Mark Connell, the attorney for the plaintiffs, who's based out of Missoula. "We're very hopeful the (Montana) Supreme Court will accept her reasoning and affirm her decision."
One of the plaintiffs, Bob Baxter, died the same day McCarter made her ruling
Montana State Solicitor Anthony Johnstone told us that under Montana law, intentionally killing someone is illegal, and it's the responsibility of the Montana Department of Justice to defend the laws currently on the books.
(from December 8, 2008)
A Billings man who fought long and hard to legalize assisted suicide in Montana never saw it become a reality.
Robert Baxter, 75, passed away Friday before hearing the ruling of Montana District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter, stating that patients can make the decision under the Montana Constitution, therefore legalizing the right to die.
The ruling issued late Friday makes Montana the 3rd state in which doctor-assisted suicide is legal. Washington and Oregon state have approved a similar law.
We spoke with one of Baxter's sons Monday who told us his father, who suffered from a deadly form of leukemia, was sleeping when they received the phone call Friday from Baxter's lawyer, Mark Connell, with the judge's ruling.
But Robert Baxter never heard the news that McCarter ruled in favor of his cause because he never woke up.
The family hopes that even though their family couldn't benefit from the assisted suicide ruling, they hope other families will.
Judge McCarter ruled that mentally competent, terminally-ill Montanans have a right to obtain medications that can be self-administered to bring about a peaceful death if they find their suffering unbearable. The ruling says physicians can prescribe such medication without fear of criminal prosecution.
Attorney General Mike McGrath says he expects the state to appeal the ruling. He says it's a complicated constitutional issue and the Supreme Court should rule on it.
