To the Point

Challenge to Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law

In 1997, the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously that there is no constitutional "right to die," but also said that physician assisted suicide should be left to the states--so that what it called a "profound debate" could continue. Oregon voters twice approved the so-called "Death with Dignity Act," and it's been in effect for eight years. Now, the Bush Justice Department has challenged it, claiming that any doctor who prescribes a lethal dose of medicine has violated the federal law on "controlled substances." A lower court rejected that claim, and now the Supreme Court will hear the Administration's appeal. We hear from an Oregon cancer patient who wants to die and from lawyers and doctors on both sides of the issue. Making News: Bush and Schroder Make Nice In Mainz, Germany today, where President Bush met with Chancellor Gerhard Schr-der, manholes were welded shut and residents were not allowed to open their windows. After the meeting, Schr-der said," We have agreed not to emphasize those areas where we disagree." Michael Naumann, editor and publisher of the newsweekly Die Zeit has more on the meeting. Reporters Notebook: Allawi Forming Coalition in Fight to Be Prime Minister Iraqi Shiites have coalesced around Ibrahim al-Jaafari, head of the Dawa Party, as their next Prime Minister. Yet, even as the largest bloc in the new parliament, they're 40 votes short of making his choice inevitable. Today, current interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite, announced he's forming his own coalition. Has he made a deal with the Kurds? Former CIA analyst Judith Yaphe has more on both of the candidates.