Helena, MT – Montana is officially the third state to allow assisted suicide, according to ruling by Helena District Judge Dorothy McCarter. She moved to allow the practice in December and again in January, dismissing a request for an injunction during an appeal. Judge McCarter decided in December that the terminally ill patient Robert Baxter can self-administer lethal drugs provided by a physician.

Since this case sets a precedent, what’s legally permissible for Mr. Baxter is automatically legal for all.

Montana State Attorney General Mike McGrath filed an appeal of the decision and requested an injunction – to prevent others statewide from attempting assisted suicide – while the appeal is considered.

Although assisted suicide may be legal, there are no clinical studies to evidence the proper medication or dosage for intentional death. As such, there is the potential for significant margins of error, with unknowable outcomes. Doctors familiar with assisted suicide in other states have suggested that a massive dose of barbiturates is sufficient to put a patient to sleep, with respiratory failure to follow within 20-30 minutes of becoming unconscious, but they have yet to state what a “massive dose” is in measurable terms.

McCarter rejected the appeal, and her ruling means assisted suicides can move ahead as of last month without patients or doctors fearing prosecution on charges of murder… Well, the patients don’t much fear prosecution, since theirs are already death sentences, but prescribing doctors stand much to lose..

Missoula Democratic Representative Dick Barrett, has submitted a bill to allow legally assisted suicide.

Religious conservatives are vehemently opposed to assisted suicide, and are calling in to state legislators in what they are calling “record numbers,” though no verification of this claim is available.

Republicans and Democrats alike face a tricky reconciliation, since many hold opposing views in terms of pro-life/pro-choice, pro-death penalty, anti-death with dignity, and constitutionally mandatory rights to bear arms, even if those bearing the arms are drug addicts.

Following the decision, some called on the Montana Medical Association to intervene, but the organization refused to get involved. Organizations have criticized the MMA for not submitting an amicus brief demanding the ruling be overturned.

Montana now joins Oregon and Washington as the only three states in the nation to allow assisted suicides, though the practice is legal and acceptable in many other countries around the world.