Earlier today Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia continued until late August the hearing on a preliminary injunction filed by opponents of the California End of Life Option Act.
Implementation of California End of Life Option Act Continues
Late Friday, opponents of the law, led by Life Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-choice and anti-Death with Dignity group, had filed a new brief. The judge had no time to read or consider the brief prior to today’s hearing and decided to continue the hearing until August 26.
The action delaying the request for a preliminary injunction until next month will allow the law to continue being in effect.
A Lawsuit in Vermont
Meanwhile in Vermont, using the same tactics of hiring doctors to serve as plaintiffs in the suit, Tennessee-based Christian Medical and Dental Associations, another national anti-Death with Dignity group, has filed a similar lawsuit seeking to stop the law there.
These two cases open up a new front in the battle against death with dignity. Opponents are seeking to stop the laws in state courts after losing federal court cases filed in Oregon and Washington years ago. Now they are moving into state courts in California and Vermont, hoping they will get a different result. Make no mistake: the doctors and the anti-choice groups funding these lawsuits are political operatives attempting to derail the laws any way they can.
Fighting to Defend Death with Dignity Laws
We will continue to protect the laws you fought so hard to pass. But we need your help to continue our efforts. Can you chip in $25 to ensure we have the resources we need to fight these lawsuits in Vermont and California?
If opponents of the law, including these doctors, choose not to participate, that is their right under the End of Life Option Act. What they are attempting to do is deny the right to use this law to people in the end stages of life who are suffering.
With your help, the Death With Dignity National Center will be relentless in our efforts to protect patients from these political attempts to derail the law.
No comments.