Metuchen, N.J., Aug 16, 2019 / 13:31 pm
A judge in New Jersey has temporarily halted a law allowing physician assisted suicide, which had gone into effect August 1.
The law is being challenged by a physician who says that it is a violation of religious freedom protections in the U.S. Constitution and laws against suicide.
Dr. Yosef Glassman is an Orthodox Jew who says that he is opposed to facilitating suicide both due to his religious beliefs and his profession as a doctor. He also objects to the law's stipulation that a doctor who objects to assisted suicide must refer patients to another doctor who will help them end their life.
The law's demands on doctors, Glassman said in his lawsuit, present "not only a violation of the rights to practice medicine without breaching the fiduciary duties owing to those patients ... but also violations of their First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to freely practice their religions in which human life is sacred and must not be taken," the AP reported.