NJ Takes Big Step To Bring Back Right-To-Die Law

NEW JERSEY – The state is taking a big step to bring back the right-to-die law that was halted by a judge last week. And New Jersey is taking action just as a doctor who effectively stopped the law insisted that he will continue to fight it.

The Office of Attorney General has filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to overturn a decision to stop the right-to-die law that went into effect on Aug. 1. State Superior Court Judge Paul Innes stopped the law on Aug. 15.

Read more: Judge Stops NJ Right-To-Die Law

The OAG asked for a quick decision, saying terminally ill patients and their families "have taken affirmative steps" to follow through on end-of-life decisions since the law took effect.

Those families "will be forced to continue in the intense suffering, pain and indignity of terminal illnesses from which they seek immediate relief," according to the OAG's motion.

"And the providers who may not yet be aware of the change in the status of the law are now exposed to civil and criminal liability," the motion said.

The Office of Attorney General says it is aware of one such family who was denied a prescription based on the trial court’s order.

"This disruption will irreparably harm such patients’ mental well-being and force them to continue in the intense suffering, pain and indignity of terminal illnesses," the OAG said.

The restraining order was requested by Yosef Glassman, a doctor, and was filed against Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. Glassman said the law will cause "immediate and irreparable damage" to the state.

A GoFundMe page was even created to help Glassman's cause, saying that supporting his fight "will not only save lives, but spare those doctors who value life above all from having to participate in actions they view as morally abhorrent."

"Lives are literally at stake with every day that passes," the page says. "This legal challenge is time-sensitive and we need to come together to fight it.

E. David Smith, an attorney representing Glassman, appeared with Assemblyman Robert Auth, R-Bergen, this week to say that the effort to stop the law "is not a political issue. This is somethng that affects people of all political beliefs."

"Every single human being's life is worth living until the last breath," Smith said.

The OAG, in response, said Glassman "had no standing beyond his own alleged harm as a New Jersey physician" to stop the law. The OAG said Glassman was not directly affected because "he would not engage in any conduct" allowable under the right-to-die law.