The AG's Jihad

Is John Ashcroft out of his freakin' mind?

He apparently thinks Oregon is harboring a sleeper cell that threatens the security of this nation even more than the terrorists of al Qaeda.

The enemy? Oregon doctors.

With the same vigor the attorney general is bringing to the prosecution of terrorist cells within the borders of the U.S., he is seeking to prevent any Oregon physician from daring to help Oregonians to end their lives.

It's a holy war as baffling as it is off-target.

Lest you think this is déjà vu all over again, here's a recap:

Oregon voters approved assisted suicide in 1994. But it didn't become law until 1997, because of a number of court challenges and ditherings by our state Legislature. Meanwhile in Congress, then-U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft supported an unsuccessful effort to overturn the Oregon law. When George Bush promoted the defeated senator to attorney general,
he continued his crusade against
the law (with the blessings
of Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith), challenging it on the grounds that it
violated the Controlled Substances Act. The Act was intended to target drug dealers, but Ashcroft thought it gave him the right to prosecute doctors who were prescribing lethal doses of medication.

Last April, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones brushed aside Ashcroft's argument like a bad date, ruling that the AG had a seriously defective position--and besides, he had overstepped his bounds.

"To allow an attorney general--an appointed executive whose tenure depends entirely on whatever administration occupies the White House--to determine the legitimacy of a particular medical practice without a specific congressional grant of such authority would be unprecedented and extraordinary," Jones wrote.

If the Nose received that sort of rebuke, he would have hidden under his covers for six months. But Ashcroft is not a man who gives up easily. Late last month, he appealed Jones' decision to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Meanwhile, below the strafing of national politics and federal lawsuits, Oregon's Death with Dignity Act is about to quietly celebrate its fifth anniversary. Guess what? This state has not been transformed into the movie set of Death Wish. The poor aren't being shoved off the cliff because of greedy health insurers seeking to cut costs. In fact, if anything, Oregon's assisted-suicide law has had little impact: Fewer than 100 people have chosen to use the law to hasten their death. That may be because the law is tightly written, with a requirement for the approval of two doctors. It may be because the law includes several safeguards to ensure that the patient is of sound mind and can rescind his decision at any point. Or it may just be that death with dignity is an example of an issue where people--not government--know best. (Jeez, isn't that a Republican mantra?)

It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that John Ashcroft, who during his confirmation hearings said that he would "uphold all of the laws of the land, no matter [his] personal opinion," is still hard at work seeking to kill Oregon's landmark law, even though it seems to be working just fine.

WWeek 2015