Baxter, et al v. Montana

Victory for patients, families and physicians in Montana!

Montana physicians, terminally-ill patients and Compassion & Choices have hailed the Montana Supreme Court’s ruling that terminally ill Montanans have the right to choose aid in dying under state law. The court ruled that public policy of Montana does not criminalize, and much in current public policy affirmatively supports, aid in dying.  The court did not reach the question of whether the Montana constitution specifically protects aid in dying.

There is no further appeal from this decision, as the Montana Supreme Court is the highest court available to decide State issues.

In a detailed review of Montana law on the "Rights of the Terminally Ill," the Court concluded that the legislature specifically defers to a patient's own decisions  and affords patients the right to control their own bodies at the end of life. The decision to self-administer life-ending medication receives the same treatment as a decision to discontinue life sustaining therapies such as mechanical ventilation. This is a landmark victory!

Read the Montana Supreme Court opinion for Baxter v Montana

Read full press release: Montana Supreme Court Uphold Right of Montanans to Aid In Dying

Audio of Press Conference following Baxter v. Montana Ruling
Speakers include Compassion & Choices’ Director of Media Relations, Steve Hopcraft and Director of Legal Affairs Kathryn Tucker; co-counsel for the plaintiffs Mark Connell, Steve Johnson, a terminally ill cancer patient and Roberta King, the daughter of the late Bob Baxter, the lead plaintiff in the case.

Kathryn Tucker, Legal Director for Compassion & Choices speaking with the Legal Broadcast Network on the Montana Supreme Court decision for Baxter v. Montana, December 31, 2009

Kathryn Tucker, Legal Director for Compassion & Choices, speaking at the Montana Supreme Court building about Baxter v. Montana, September 2 2009:

View the full Baxter v Montana oral argument in front of the Montana Supreme Court