Assisted suicide ruling expected by late April.

Byline: DAVID STEVES The Register-Guard

PORTLAND - A federal judge promised Friday to rule next month on Oregon's lawsuit to stop U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's attempt to overturn the state's doctor-assisted suicide law.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones concluded three hours of oral arguments in his courtroom by saying he intended to take about a month to study the opposing lawyers' arguments and would rule between April 17-19.

Friday's hearing was the fullest airing to date in the legal battle over the Bush administration's Nov. 6 directive to penalize doctors who prescribe or dispense drugs under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act.

Stephen Bushong, the Oregon assistant attorney general who argued that Jones should rule against the Bush administration, was joined by an attorney for a physician and pharmacist and two lawyers for several terminally ill Oregonians. The lawyers argued that the attempt to stop Oregon's law by penalizing participating doctors violates states' sovereignty to regulate legitimate medical practices and physicians' rights as Oregonians.

They, along with the two federal attorneys who defended Ashcroft's action, focused their presentations on the Controlled Substances Act.

Bushong and his colleagues argued that the law was meant to stop the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs. Amendments to the law in 1984 authorizing the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to yank doctors' licenses to prescribe drugs was narrowly drawn to prevent doctors from misusing their positions by acquiring and distributing drugs for illicit use, Bushong said.

Ashcroft's directive to the DEA to revoke drug-prescribing authority from doctors who prescribe lethal doses to terminal patients under Oregon's law is an unlawful attempt to misuse that authority, Bushong said.

"Congress did not intend to give the attorney general the power to overturn state laws meant to honor the wishes of dying patients," he said.

The federal attorneys countered that under their interpretation of the federal law, Ashcroft's order doesn't violate states' rights to regulate the practice of medicine. That's because the prescription of lethal doses to dying patients doesn't meet the legal or common definitions of a "legitimate" medical practice, the federal lawyers said.

Deputy U.S. attorney general Gregory Katsas said medicine "is the science of restoring health. It is not the science of ending life."

Of the nine terminally ill plaintiffs who joined the suit since November, five have died - two through the use of life-ending drugs prescribed under the suicide law, the remaining three from natural causes, said Nicholas van Elastin, a lawyer for the patients and the group Compassion in Dying. In response to the death rate among individual plaintiffs, he asked Jones to certify the case as a class action - a move opposed by lawyers for the Bush administration.

"These plaintiffs can't presume to speak for all terminally ill patients," Katsas said.

In addition to the three hours of oral arguments, Jones must review hundreds of pages of printed briefs before rendering a decision. Plaintiffs in the case filed 12 briefs and the federal government filed two. In addition, 18 outside groups, ranging from the National Right to Life Committee to Surviving Family Members in Support of Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, submitted "friend of the court" briefs.

In November, Jones blocked Ashcroft's action with a temporary restraining order.

Jones' authority to decide the case also was an issue Friday. Federal attorneys argued that his district court lacks authority in the matter and said the case should be transferred to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jones said he would rule on that question. If he rejects the Bush administration's contention, he then will rule on the merits of the case.

Either way, the case is expected to be appealed and could eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The law was adopted by voters in 1994 and is the only one of its kind. Oregon voters reaffirmed support for the measure in a 1997 vote.

Since its enactment, at least 91 people have used the law to ingest life-ending drugs.

After the oral arguments wrapped up in the courtroom, the sparring continued 16 stories below on the steps of the Mark O. Hatfield federal court building. Backers of the Oregon law chanted, "protect the will of the people."

Nearby supporters of the Bush administration's efforts carried a banner reading "Not Dead Yet," the name of an organization of people with disabilities who oppose Oregon's law.

James Romney, a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the government, was among those on the steps.

Romney, a Portland resident who has Lou Gehrig's disease, told reporters he was losing the ability to speak and breathe, gradually losing his dignity as the end of life draws near.

The option of being able to seek a doctor's help to control the way he dies is a source of comfort, Romney said.

"I could have my family around, fall asleep and not wake up again," he said.

"John Ashcroft, of course, is (opposed to) that. Not just for me but for everybody in the state of Oregon."

But Ellie Jenny of Salem, who attended Friday's proceedings, disagreed.

Jenny, who was paralyzed as a teen-ager when a truck struck her while she was riding a bicycle, said that although the law is open only to dying patients in their final six months of life, doctors might make mistakes.

She wondered how many patients told they have only six months could actually live for additional months or years.

"They're using it because of fears of losing autonomy and bodily functions," she said.

CAPTION(S):

Not Dead Yet national board member Ric Burger distributes pamphlets outside court in Portland on Friday. At left is Not Dead Yet Oregon member Ellie Jenny. Associated Press Outside the hearing in Portland on Friday, Stacey Richter opposes Attorney General John Ashcroft.