Americans United for Life Represents 28 Bipartisan Montana Legislators Arguing Assisted...

Americans United for Life Represents 28 Bipartisan Montana Legislators Arguing
Assisted Suicide Not a Right

CHICAGO, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Americans United for Life (AUL)
today filed a friend of the court brief before the Montana Supreme Court on
behalf of a bipartisan group of 28 Montana Senators and Representatives,
arguing there is no right to assisted suicide under the State's constitution.

In December 2008, a state district court ruled that, under the Montana
Constitution, individuals have a right to suicide, and a right to assistance
in committing suicide. In addition, the judge did not impose any restrictions
on the practice, leaving room for the active euthanasia of patients by their
physicians.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of AUL stated, "It is appalling that the
district court has attempted to unilaterally manufacture a state
constitutional right to assisted suicide--a right that has no basis in the
history of our nation. On the contrary, Montana has compelling interests in
protecting all human life and in preventing the abuses inherent in assisted
suicide."

"The district court held that a person's constitutional rights are 'defeated'
if she does not receive assistance in dying. This means that anyone--even a
patient who cannot administer lethal drugs herself--is entitled to have a
physician kill them," observed Mailee Smith, AUL Staff Counsel.

Smith continued, "What's even worse is that there is no requirement that
another person witness the suicide request or that there be written
documentation of the request and the basis for it. Physicians can
unilaterally decide that their patients want to die, with no paper trail to
hold them accountable. That is not assisted suicide--that is euthanasia."

AUL worked in conjunction with the Montana Attorney General's office to
coordinate amicus briefs supporting the State's current prohibition of
assisted suicide.

AUL's brief is available at http://tinyurl.com/Baxter-v-MT

About Americans United for Life
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy
organization whose vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life
and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America,
AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial,
legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels
since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS' Frontline
program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in Mississippi.

SOURCE Americans United for Life

Matthew Eppinette of Americans United for Life, +1-202-289-1479,
matthew.eppinette@aul.org