Court backs assisted suicide
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Supreme Court this week upheld the nation’s only state law allowing physician-assisted suicide, ruling that the Justice Department cannot punish doctors in Oregon who help terminally ill patients die. The ruling was a blow to the Bush administration, which fought Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act as contrary to the “culture of life.” In its 6-3 decision, the justices said that nothing in federal law prohibits states from allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medicine to dying patients. The court said that the Justice Department’s attempt to determine what was medically appropriate in these cases represented a “radical shift of authority from the states to the federal government.” Chief Justice John Roberts joined Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in dissent—Roberts’ first dissent since joining the court in October.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raids
In the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classrooms
Pros and cons The devices could be major distractions