New Jersey's medically assisted suicide law only covers state residents, appeals court rules

A federal appeals court upheld New Jersey's residency requirement for its medically-assisted suicide law, ruling terminally ill patients from other states cannot access it.

"Death brings good things to an end, but rarely neatly," U.S. Circuit Court Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote in the opinion issued last week. "Many terminally ill patients face a grim reality: imminent, painful death. Some may want to avert that suffering by enlisting a doctor’s help to end their own lives. New Jersey lets its residents make that choice—but only its residents."

New Jersey is one of 11 states, along with Washington, D.C., that allow physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults. Most states restrict the practice to residents, though Oregon and Vermont allow access regardless of residency.