Doctor-assisted suicide

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno has made the correct decision in preserving the right of Oregon residents to seek physician- assisted suicide. Oregon voters resoundingly affirmed their support for the state's Death With Dignity Act by a 60 percent vote last November. The Oregon law allows a terminally ill adult to request a prescription for lethal drugs if he or she is of sound mind and is judged by two doctors to have less than six months to live.

After several months of review, Ms. Reno has concluded that federal law does not permit prosecution of a doctor who complies with the Oregon law. Her decision is in line with the sentiment of the Supreme Court. Although the high court ruled that there is no constitutionally protected right to assisted suicide, it said states must be free to engage in the "profound debate about the morality, legality and practicality" of this issue. Oregon voters have engaged in that debate, and their judgment about the right to die should not be subject to federal interference.

Unfortunately, leaders of the right-to-live movement are seizing on the assisted suicide issue as they have on abortion. Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, a vociferous opponent of abortion rights, has said there will be efforts in Congress to undo Ms. Reno's decision on the Oregon case. As in the reproductive rights arena, conservatives who otherwise oppose federal control are eager to substitute their moral judgments for those of local voters when the outcome is not to their liking.

The nation is beginning to grapple with an individual's right to control how life ends. A national poll last fall showed that 68 percent of respondents supported physician-assisted suicide. Oregon's law is likely to be replicated in other states. Ms. Reno's decision allows voters in all states to act according to their values.

-- The New York Times