PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania man who equated not being able to die with dignity with slavery has lost his argument in federal court, as a judge refused to bypass the General Assembly and institute medical aid in dying.
Gordon Roy Parker said in his pro se complaint last year that he is dying and would like to get on with his final act. However, Pennsylvania has no MAID law like other states like New Jersey, which allows residents to solicit physicians for medication that will cause death.
Judge R. Barclay Surrick on March 31 granted the motions to dismiss of Pennsylvania officials, noting legislators have attempted to pass MAID laws in recent years. Those efforts have stalled.
"The allegations in Plaintiff's complaint do not establish a basis for this court to interfere with the ongoing legislative process on the issues of assisted suicide and death with dignity," Surrick wrote.
Previous Legal Newsline coverage when Parker sued in June detailed his life at the time, which consisted mainly of playing chess online. He has a history of bringing his own litigation and said he had planned to bring this case for decades, when it was time.
Excessive fluid buildup in his abdomen and likely end-stage liver disease are to blame for his condition, he says. A stash of pills or a jump in front of a train would do the trick, he acknowledges.
"I ate like a pig, smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish," he said in July. "I didn't fear death. I lived my life. I thought I'd be dead at 45 or 50 and all my organs would fail at the same time. That was just 10 years too early."
So, he sits and plays chess. Fatigue is always present, leaving him looking "like a vagrant" because he is too tired to stand and shave, and opioids for pain go un-taken - "They kill my chess game."
Parker said he doesn't plan to appeal Surrick's ruling and will probably leave the state to establish residency in another with a MAID law on the books by the end of the year, "if I'm still here."
His complaint was novel in that it alleged his inability to end his own life on his own terms violated the 13th Amendment against slavery. Surrick dedicated only one paragraph of his 12-page ruling to this argument, concluding, "We find the 13th Amendment's prohibition on involuntary servitude does not encompass a guarantee of access to assisted suicide."
Ten states and the District of Columbia have MAID laws.
Patients are required to show they are of sound mind, and in 2019, the American Medical Association decided doctors can provide the lethal treatment without violating their professional obligations.
Judges have addressed the practice, too, like the Montana Supreme Court. Sixteen years ago, it allowed patients to take physician-prescribed medication to end their lives. Lawmakers there have tried to overturn that ruling with legislation outlawing it but have failed.
The Montana ruling said a law allowing for compassionate deaths of the terminally ill was valid. The case involved a retired truck driver who had suffered through chemotherapy that had stopped being effective against his leukemia.