Supreme Court of Georgia Strikes Down Assisted Suicide Law

Georgia’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s assisted suicide law yesterday, stating the law is “unconstitutional under the free speech provisions of the United States and Georgia constitutions.” The court found the Georgia law unconstitutional because it targeted only people who offered suicide assistance publicly. The court did say that a law banning assisted suicide could be constitutional if written properly.

Attorneys for the state argued that the restrictions on Georgia’s suicide law were intended to punish those aiding in assisted suicide only in situations where the assistance is made public. The court found that “[t]he state has failed to provide any explanation or evidence as to why a public advertisement or offer to assist in an otherwise legal activity is sufficiently problematic to justify an intrusion on protected speech rights.”

This decision will result in the dismissal of criminal charges against four assisted suicide network members. Clare Blehr, Thomas Goodwin, Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, and Nicholas Alec Sheridan were all arrested in 2009 as members of the Final Exit Network. The state accused the four of assisting John Celmer, 58, commit suicide in 2008. Celmer suffered from severe throat and mouth cancer.

See Ashley Hayes, Court Strikes Down Georgia’s Assisted Suicide Law, CNN, Feb. 6, 2012.