HOUSE DOESN'T TAKE UP BILL TO DERAIL OREGON'S ASSISTED-SUICIDE LAW

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House did not take a vote Thursday on a bill
that would derail Oregon's assisted suicide law despite heightened
expectations on both sides of the issue.

The House Majority Whip's Office, which on Wednesday had scheduled the
bill as the first issue the House would take up on Thursday, pushed it
back to fourth in line on Thursday morning.

Then the House entered into a longer-than-expected debate on a foreign
operations spending bill.

Prospects for a vote Friday were unclear.

Under the bill by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., doctors who give patients
lethal doses of federally-controlled drugs could lose their license to
prescribe such drugs.

Voters in 1994 and again in 1997 made Oregon the only state in the
nation with a law that allows doctors to prescribe lethal doses of
drugs to terminally ill patients. Since it took effect this year, at
least eight people have used the law to end their lives.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which also been scheduled to vote on
its version of Hyde's bill on Thursday, delayed consideration until
next Thursday.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said he was going to use his prerogative
as a committee member to delay the bill.

But ultimately, Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, decided
himself to delay the bill because of a full committee schedule, a
Judiciary spokeswoman said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry