Court ruling lets New Jersey move ahead with new assisted suicide law

New Jersey can proceed with a state law allowing assisted suicide for terminally ill patients after a state appeals court on Tuesday threw out a ruling blocking the law, according to ABC News.

A state Superior Court “abused its discretion” when it placed a temporary hold on the law, Judges Arnold Natali and Carmen Messano ruled.

{mosads}”We conclude the court failed to consider adequately the interests of qualified terminally-ill patients, who the Legislature determined have clearly prescribed rights to end their lives consistent with the Act,” they wrote.

The law, the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill, took effect Aug. 1 but was blocked Aug. 14 by Judge Paul Innes.

Plaintiff Yosef Glassman, a medical doctor who said he could be forced to compromise his Orthodox Jewish religious beliefs under the law, will appeal to the state Supreme Court, his lawyer Rich Grohmann said, according to ABC.

The appeals court rejected Glassman’s argument, saying that regardless of Glassman’s beliefs, he could not speak on behalf of other doctors, patients or family members.

“We fail to discern how the administrative function of transferring those documents constitutes a matter of constitutional import, or an act contrary to a physician’s professional obligations,” the judges wrote.

The Garden State was the seventh state to enact such a law when Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed it in April, with Maine becoming the eighth in June. The law requires two doctors to approve a request for life-ending drugs and the patient to request the medication twice, at least once in writing with a witness signature.