Baxter v. Montana, is a Montana Supreme Court case, argued on September 2, 2009, and decided on December 31, 2009, that addressed the question of whether the state's constitution guaranteed terminally ill patients a right to lethal prescription medication from their physicians. The Montana Supreme Court sidestepped the question of if medical aid in dying is guaranteed under Montana State Constitution, but it instead ruled, on narrower grounds, that neither legal precedent nor the state's statute deem such assistance to be against public policy or illegal. Montana is one of ten states in which aid in dying is authorized. The others are California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington; it is authorized in the District of Columbia as well.
HINT:
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Baxter v. Montana
- Baxter v. Montana in the context of Euthanasia in the United States
Baxter v. Montana in the context of Euthanasia in the United States
Active euthanasia is illegal in all 50 states of the United States. Assisted suicide is legal in twelve jurisdictions in the US: Washington, D.C. and the states of California, Colorado, Delaware, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii, Washington and Montana. The status of assisted suicide is disputed in Montana, though currently authorized per the Montana Supreme Court's ruling in Baxter v. Montana that "nothing in Montana Supreme Court precedent or Montana statutes [indicates] that physician aid in dying is against public policy."
View the full Wikipedia page for Euthanasia in the United States