ANTHONY PETRO, ET AL. VS. MATTHEW J. PLATKIN, ETC. (C-000053-19, MERCER COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-3837-19)
In this appeal, the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs' complaint challenging the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, N.J.S.A. 26:16-1 to -20, which allows qualified terminally ill patients to request and obtain from his or her physician a prescription for medication that the patient can choose to self-administer to end his or her life in a "humane and dignified manner." The court held that plaintiffs, a terminally ill patient, a doctor, and a pharmacist, lacked standing to challenge the Act because the legislation provides that participation under its provisions is voluntary for patients and health care professionals. It also concluded that plaintiffs' constitutional challenges to the legislation, premised on the New Jersey Constitution's single object rule and right to enjoy and defend life and the United States Constitution's Free Exercise Clause, lacked merit.
