MA Supreme Court Denies Assisted Suicide Claim From Falmouth Man

BOSTON, MA — The Massachusetts Supreme Court has dealt a blow to another argument for physician-assisted suicide in the Commonwealth.

On Monday, the court ruled against a Falmouth man, Roger Kligler who is diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. Kligler and Falmouth physician, Alan Steinbach, filed a claim with the court seeking clearance to go ahead with physician-assisted suicide should Kligler receive a six-month prognosis.

Though Kligler, who has been fighting this cancer since 2018, according to the court's opinion, has yet to receive such a prognosis, he and Steinbach believe that getting clearance for this end-of-life care "would allow [him] to live out the rest of [his] days knowing that, if [his] suffering becomes too great, [he] would have the option of ending [his] suffering."

Steinbach isn't Kligler's primary care doctor, but treats other patients in similar situations. The court's opinion states that he would like to help people through physician-assisted suicide, but doesn't practice the method "out of fear of prosecution."

The court's decision, written by Justice Frank Gaziano, states that prosecution could likely to brought in the case of physician-assisted suicide. It reads:

"Although we recognize the paramount importance and profound significance of all end-of-life decisions, after careful consideration, we conclude that the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights does not reach so far as to protect physician-assisted suicide. We conclude as well that the law of manslaughter may prohibit physician-assisted suicide, and does so, without offending constitutional protections."

Monday's decision against the claim is the latest, and plausibly final, blow to Kligler's plight, specifically.

The duo first filed a civil claim in October 2016 seeking affirmation that "physicians do not violate the criminal laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when they follow a medical standard of care and prescribe Medical Aid in Dying medications for self-administration by the patient ... "

One of those laws they argued assisted suicide didn't violate was manslaughter, which the Supreme Court ruled against on Monday.

Ten states and the District of Columbia have legalized the practice, but Massachusetts isn't one of them despite a number of efforts from state lawmakers.

Voters also rejected a ballot measure to legalize assisted suicide in 2012.