ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 11, 1996 TAG: 9612110036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
Doctor-assisted suicide is regularly practiced in this country as an act of compassion, several groups said Tuesday in urging the Supreme Court to declare such suicides a constitutional right for the terminally ill.
The court has agreed to decide, in cases from New York and Washington state, whether states may prohibit doctors from prescribing life-ending drugs for mentally competent but terminally ill patients who no longer want to live.
Tuesday was the deadline for groups to file friend-of-the-court briefs asking the justices to uphold the lower court rulings.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 24 linesby CNB