Court Temporarily Stops New Jersey's Doctor-Assisted Suicide Law

Last Thursday, a New Jersey judge temporarily stopped the enforcement of the state's recently established doctor-assisted suicide bill which went into effect on August 1. The law is currently being challenged in court by Dr. Yosef Glassman, an Orthodox Jew. Dr. Glassman says the law violates religious freedom laws in the United States constitution. 

Glassman's lawsuit stated that the New Jersey Physician-Assisted Suicide Act, signed in April by Gov. Phil Murphy, is "not only a violation of the rights to practice medicine without breaching the fiduciary duties owing to those patients...but also violations of their First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to freely practice their religions in which human life is sacred and must not be taken." 

While the law went into effect on August 1, the law requires a 15-day waiting period for any patient considering suicide as an option before they can kill themselves with the help of a medical team, according to LifeNews.com.  This means the restraining order signed by Judge Paul Innes of Superior Court in Mercer County will now prevent anybody in the state from using doctor-assisted suicide while the lawsuit works its way through the court system. 

In a statement given to Townhall, Kristen Hanson of the Patients Rights Action Fund slammed the law and praised the judge's decision. 

via Kristen:

"New Jersey’s assisted suicide law is a bad public policy that leaves many New Jersey residents at risk of abuse and coercion. The temporary restraining order issued, which prevents the policy from going into effect, is a welcome reassessment of a law that threatens the lives of the poor, older people, the terminally ill, and people with disabilities. New Jersey deserves better end-of-life-care, not assisted suicide."