ASHCROFT VETOES OREGON

TWICE, first in 1994 and again in 1997, voters in Oregon decided that dying
people should be allowed to end their suffering and "go to sleep" with
lethal drugs.

The state's Death With Dignity Act, which passed overwhelmingly, lets
physicians prescribe terminal doses for tragic patients who have no chance
of recovery and who apply for this merciful exit. So far, about 70 have
done so.

The former Clinton administration and its attorney general, Janet Reno,
respected the wishes of Oregon voters, letting the right-to-die law stand.

But Republican Attorney General John Ashcroft, a darling of the so-called
"religious right," decided that his lone beliefs outweigh those of Oregon
voters. On Nov. 6, he ordered the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to
revoke the dispensing licenses of any Oregon physician who prescribes a
terminal dose.

Apparently, Ashcroft thought he could slip his order through unnoticed
while America was distracted by the war on terrorism. But a backlash
occurred. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, himself a physician, reacted: "To
introduce this divisive issue at this point is, to me, unthinkable."
Oregon's attorney general filed a federal lawsuit to halt Ashcroft's
action. A hearing on it was held Tuesday.

No matter how the judge rules, the case undoubtedly will go before the U.S.
Supreme Court (which is packed with Republicans who handed Republican
George W. Bush the presidency). These justices previously ruled that dying
cancer patients cannot use marijuana to relieve their pain - so the
prospect for Oregon's law isn't bright.

Hearst columnist Marianne Means says Ashcroft, a Pentecostal whose church
practices "the unknown tongue," promised during his Senate confirmation
hearing "that he would not let his personal religious views interfere with
proper enforcement of the laws. He appears to have changed his mind."

One Bush appointee should not have power to overrule the wishes of a
state's voters. One hidebound moralist should not have power to tell dying
people they can't take control of their lives and end their misery.

When this case reaches the Supreme Court, we hope the Republican justices
are so embarrassed by the brazen partisanship they displayed in the 2000
election that they avoid another party-line decision. We hope they consider
the Oregon law objectively - and respect the wishes of voters who passed it.