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Optional Handout #4B:

You have been assigned to consider how the issue of physician-assisted suicide illustrates controversy over federalism.

The other members of your group are:







In 1997, the state of Oregon enacted the first law in the country that permitted doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of federally controlled drugs to terminally ill patients who wished to commit suicide. Critically ill patients often spend several years in pain until succumbing to the illness. The Death with Dignity Act intended to provide patients with an option to experience what some see as a more humane way to die. According to the legislation, a physician cannot personally inject the lethal drugs, but the patient may use the prescription to privately end his or her life. Since the law was enacted in 1997, 246 people in Oregon have committed drug-assisted suicide.

In 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a directive that threatened to punish any doctor who prescribed a lethal dose of drugs for the purpose of assisted suicide. Ashcroft argued that the law violated the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1971. Under this interpretation of the CSA, it would be illegal to prescribe controlled substances, such as barbiturates, to end a patient's life.

The case was appealed to the Supreme Court and Gonzales v. Oregon was heard in 2005.

Questions to Consider


1.) Provide a brief summary of the issue.



  • What do you think are the best arguments for Oregon to make about the power of the state to make and enforce its own laws related to this case?



5.) What do you think the Supreme Court decided in 2006?

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