Montana Will Continue to Authorize Medical Aid in Dying - Despite S.B. 136

I recently blogged about pending legislation that might recriminalize MAID in Montana. Let's assume that this bill passes the House and is signed by the Governor. Yes, that would undo what the Montana Supreme Court did in Baxter v. State. But that will simply open the door to allow the court to finish what it started on December 31, 2009.  

 

Baxter was litigated as a case (like nearly 20 such cases in other states) seeking a state constitutional right to MAID. In fact the Montana District Court held that a competent, terminally ill patient has a right to die with dignity under Article II, Sections 4 and 10 of the Montana Constitution. But the Supreme Court declined to rule on that because it determined that MAID was not even prohibited by Montana law. Courts almost always decline to reach constitutional questions if answering them is unnecessary.

If the legislature clarifies that MAID really is prohibited under Montana statutory law, then the previously bypassed constitutional question becomes ripe. 

Litigants will bring another Baxter case. The Montana Constitution has not been amended  since 2009. So, the same provisions that led the District Court to find a constitutional right in December 2008 should lead both the next district court and the Supreme Court to find the same in 2025 and 2026.