In a move widely praised by the "pro-life" movement, the US Attorney General, Mr John Ashcroft, has controversially intervened to prevent Oregon doctors from assisting in the suicides of terminally-ill patients.
Mr Ashcroft on Tuesday ruled that the use of prescription drugs in doctor-assisted suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose" and their use will now open doctors to being deprived of their right to prescribe, and hence to practise, despite the fact that assisted suicide is legal in Oregon. It was approved in a state referendum.
The ruling, reversing one by his predecessor, Ms Janet Reno, has angered both right-to-die supporters and defenders of states' rights against federal interference, like the local Democratic senator. Mr Ron Wyden, an opponent of assisted suicide, said Mr Ashcroft's order "is undoing Oregon's popular will in the most undemocratic manner possible".
"Given everything that the country is going through right now, with the country trying to respond to anthrax, why John Ashcroft picked this moment to inject this divisive issue into the public debate is just beyond me," said Oregon's Governor, Mr John Kitzhaber, a Democrat. The state was yesterday filing motions in US District Court in Portland seeking to block the order.
Doctors' representatives have also warned that the ruling may inhibit them in prescribing pain-relieving drugs, although the Attorney General's letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency explicitly discourages prosecutions of medical professionals.
But the decision was backed by others. The state's Republican senator, Mr Gordon Smith, said the government should not condone the taking of life.
"This is a matter of principle, not a matter of politics," Mr Smith said.
"We felt that Reno had set up a very improper and bizarre situation that had the act of killing patients with federal substances illegal in 49 states" but not in Oregon, Mr David O'Sten, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, said.
At least 70 terminally ill people have ended their lives since the Oregon law took effect in 1997, according to the Oregon Health Division. All have done so with a federally controlled substance such as a barbiturate.
Under the law, doctors may provide - but not administer - a lethal prescription to terminally-ill adult state residents.
It requires that two doctors agree the patient has less than six months to live, has voluntarily chosen to die, and is able to make health care decisions. Mr Ashcroft's decision is certain to reopen the bitter controversy surrounding his appointment over whether he would use the position to advance his strongly held religious opposition to both abortion and euthanasia.
