March
18, 2014, 7:52 AM
Special
Kudos to Paper.li and Barry
Klopfer
New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has appealed a
recent District Court ruling that bars prosecution of physicians for aiding
terminally ill patients with assisted suicide.
King said one of the problems with the Jan. 13
ruling by Albuquerque Judge Nan Nash is that it doesn’t set a statewide
precedent on the issue.
“We feel, win or lose, we need some decision by
the (state) Supreme Court, or at least the appeals court, that will apply across
the state,” King told the Journalon
Wednesday.
Nash ruled that New Mexico’s Assisted Suicide
statute – which prohibits assisted suicide – violates citizens’ constitutional
rights.
“This court cannot envision a right more
fundamental, more private or more integral to the liberty, safety and happiness
of a New Mexican than the right of a competent, terminally ill patient to choose
aid in dying,” she said in her ruling.
King said he also wants to protect the assisted
suicide law.
“Our position is we’re defending the integrity of
the statute,” he said. If people are interested in changing state law, they
should propose new legislation, King said.
The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil
Liberties Union and a national advocacy group called Compassion and Choices. The
group has said it is willing to fight an appeal.
The suit was brought on behalf of Aja Riggs, of
Santa Fe, who has uterine cancer that is now in remission.
