Judge’s Ruling Supports Right to Assisted Suicide

A judge in Montana has ruled in the case of a terminally-ill cancer patient to allow him to “die with dignity” by have a doctor assist in ending his life. She said he should have the ability to choose when he dies if he is “mentally competent.”

The judge, Dorothy McCarter, ruled it would be legal for a doctor to prescribe medication which would assist in the death of a patient who feels their pain due to illness is too much to bear.

The state is planning to appeal the decision, since they feel the state legislature should make such a decision.

Montana, Oregon and Washington are the only three states to rule assisted suicide legal.

The patient, Robert Baxter, 75, put out a statement saying he was “glad to know that the court respects my choice to die with dignity if my situation becomes intolerable.”