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Assisted suicide is a crime in the State of Washington. Four WA MDs sued the State
seeking a declaration that the ban is, on its face, unconstitutional, based on the 14th
Amendment. The Federal District
Court agreed, concluding that Washington's assisted suicide ban is unconstitutional. The
en banc Ninth Circuit affirmed. (see Cruzan)
As in Quill (q.v.) the Supreme Court said "Anglo American common law has punished or
otherwise disapproved of assisting suicide for over 700 years," and WA's law does NOT
violate the Due Process Clause. Also cited that the "President [had] recently signed
the Federal Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997," prohibiting the use of
federal funds in support of physician assisted suicide.