EuthaNEWSia (www.euthanewsia.ca)

ATLANTA (CN) - A woman with Huntington's disease and two members of the Final Exit Network challenged the constitutionality of Georgia's in "Offering to Assist in Suicide Statute" in Federal Court. Pointing out that neither suicide nor attempted suicide are illegal in Georgia, they call the law an overbroad and vague "viewpoint-based restriction on speech" that is not narrowly tailored to achieve government interest.

The Georgia Offering to Assist Suicide Statute (O.C.G.A. 16-5-5) states: "Any person who publicly advertises, offers or holds himself or herself out as offering that he or she will intentionally and actively assist another person in the commission of suicide and commits any overt act to further that purpose is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years."

Plaintiff Susan Caldwell, who suffers from Huntington's disease, which is hereditary, sued Gov. Sonny Perdue and Attorney General Thurbert Baker. Her co-plaintiffs, Fran Schindler and Jim Chastain, are "senior exit guides" with the Final Exit Network, a national volunteer organization that "advocates for and raises awareness of the basic right for a person to end his or her life when suffering from fatal or irreversible illness or intractable pain that has become more than they can bear."

They add that exit guides "do not buy any materials, encourage any individual to end his or her life, initiate the death procedure or physically assist in any way in the death procedure."

[Note: The full court filing is available at http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/14/AssistedSuicide.pdf]

[There is information in the Notes section below.]

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

Holness, Jacqueline J. "Ill Woman Challenges Assisted Suicide Law". Courthouse News Service. Tuesday, December 14, 2010 Last Update: 9:27 AM PT. <www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/14/32586.htm>. Courthouse News Service. 30 N Raymond Ave Ste 310. Pasadena, CA 91103, U.S.A.

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The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201012153655.
Mailed: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 14:24:37 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.

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