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CNN Live At Daybreak

Federal Judge in Oregon Has Upheld State Law Allowing Physician-Assisted Suicide

Aired April 18, 2002 - 06:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A federal judge in Oregon has upheld a state law allowing physician-assisted suicide. The judge ruled that the Justice Department doesn't have the authority to overturn the law.

CNN's Rusty Dornin looks at what the ruling means to those with a terminal illness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sandy Lupo never new she was sick. Then in December, the doctors told her she would die of lung cancer within six months.

Fifty-nine year old Lupo says she immediately applied for Oregon's so-called Death with Dignity drugs. Ones that would allow her to end her life at a time and place of her choosing.

SANDY LUPO, LUNG CANCER PATIENT: I get to decide when I've had enough. Nobody else will tell me that I haven't had enough, that I can endure more. Nobody else can define my level of this is enough indignity.

DORNIN: Lupo was angry that somebody else tried to stop her from that decision. That somebody was the federal government, which last November, tried to strike down the law. The government, which regulates prescription drugs, argued that assisting suicides is not a legitimate medical purpose. But a Portland federal judge told the federal government it has no authority here.

GEORGE EIGHMEY, COMPASSION IN DYING FEDERATION: I think this is a victory for all terminally ill Oregonians who find a great deal of comfort and relief that the law -- the Oregon Death with Dignity law -- is available to them now.

DORNIN: On the courthouse steps, government lawyers still defended their case.

ROBERT MCCALLUM, ASST. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I can tell you that I think that the arguments presented by the government in this case, on behalf of Attorney General Ashcroft, were compelling. And we regret that we were unable to persuade Judge Jones with those arguments.

DORNIN: So will his boss take it to the Supreme Court? Attorney General John Ashcroft isn't anxious to show his hand yet.

JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're digesting the opinion.

DORNIN: Oregonians voted twice for the law, once in '94, when voters passed it, and then again when they defeated a ballot measure to repeal it in '97. Since then, 140 lethal prescriptions were written. Ninety-one terminally ill patients decided to take the drugs. That means more than a third decided not to do it.

Cancer specialist, Dr. Peter Rasmussen, has written 100 prescriptions. He says people just want the option.

DR. PETER RASMUSSEN, CANCER SPECIALIST: It's almost always just in case. Very few people say, "I know I am going to do this." Almost all say, "I think I might. It depends on the situation."

DORNIN: A situation that Sandy Lupo says she will determine for herself.

LUPO: My preference would be to not use them. I would rather die in my sleep in the night peacefully.

DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN, Portland, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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