The Supreme Court ruled in January against the US federal government’s attempt to end Oregon’s only physician-assisted suicide law, a decision that has people of faith either celebrating or rioting.

Also, while the Supreme Court ruling was based on a technical point related to drug distribution, some people of faith are concerned that states will enact similar laws across the country.

The Supreme Court addressed Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1997 and is quite specific. The law covers only the extremely ill, those with terminal illnesses, who are agreed by at least two doctors to have a maximum of six months to live, who are of sound mind. It allows terminally ill patients to receive a lethal prescription from their self-administered doctors.

In a 6-3 majority, the Supreme Court struck down Gonzalez C. Oregon. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote that the US government’s attempt to thwart physician-assisted suicide with the Controlled Substances Act, which prohibits physicians from writing prescriptions for no “legitimate medical purpose,” was a “broad and unusual authority”. Kennedy wrote for the majority, “the statute manifests no intent to regulate the practice of medicine in general.”

In the dissenting opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote on his behalf and on behalf of Justices John Roberts and Clarence Thomas. He wrote: “If the term ‘legitimate medical purpose’ has any meaning, it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death.” He quoted Webster’s Dictionary in describing the role of medicine as “the science and art concerned with the prevention, cure, or alleviation of disease.”

The case began in 2004, when then-Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a directive that Oregon doctors who help their patients commit suicide under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act violate the federal Controlled Substances Act. This was issued the same day his resignation was announced.

This view, while narrow in focus, has some people of faith concerned that it has broader implications.

“Physician-assisted suicide is corruption of the medical profession,” said Edward Ferton, a staff ethicist with the National Catholic Bioethics Council. “The goal of medicine is to cure or heal, not kill.”

Ferton called physician-assisted suicide “immoral” and that it is the “destruction of the gift of life, a gift from God.”

However, proponents of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act say it honors human dignity rather than compromises it.

“This ruling says, ‘You have the right to make your own decision with dignity and humanity,'” said George Eighmey, executive director of Compassion & Choices of Oregon. “I can leave [life] on my terms and no one else’s” and I don’t have to abide by someone else’s beliefs.

Those of the Jewish faith believe this is a personal issue, which means that members of the faith can choose their own stance on physician-assisted suicide.

“Judaism does not have a single position on anything. The only constant is that one is always supposed to seek the truth in the wisdom of the present moment,” said Rabbi Ariel Stone of the Shir Tikvah Synagogue in Oregon. “We should have reverence for life and humility towards life. I think that leads to the realization that we cannot prolong life, that in itself is an act of arrogance.”

“It’s never made sense to me that faith stops at death,” Stone added. “God brought us into this world, why shouldn’t God have help to get us out? Otherwise there’s no point. I want to be helped by the same loving hands that helped me in, and I see God in both of those acts”.

The subject remains highly controversial in the medical profession.

“This law puts a sense of control back to patients,” said Dr. Nancy Crumpacker, a retired Oregon oncologist. “This is all about patients. This is not about existing medical powers.”

However, Dr. Kenneth Stevens of the Physicians for Compassionate Care Foundation, who has opposed the law, told the Associated Press that he is concerned that the terminally ill may feel pressure to end their lives. He pointed out that the American Medical Association is also against the Death with Dignity Act.

A total of 208 people, mostly cancer patients, have taken the deadly prescription from 1998 to 2004, according to The Associated Press.

Eighmey said she has had the privilege of being with a number of people when they have taken the recipe and many of these times have been celebratory, sometimes incorporating religious ceremonies.

“This is a family event,” Eighmey said. “They want the right to say goodbye. There is love and care, humanity and dignity.”