Terminally ill patients from other states can’t come to N.J. to end their lives, court rules

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the residency requirement in New Jersey's medical aid in dying law does not violate the U.S. Constitution, meaning the state can continue to keep its right to die law exclusively for residents.

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in August 2023 by Compassion & Choices on behalf of terminally-ill cancer patients in Delaware and Pennsylvania and two New Jersey doctors, according to a statement from the non-profit, which works to expand choice for the end of life.

The group sued to challenge the provision in the law Gov. Phil Murphy signed in 2019 that limits participation to Garden State residents.

The lawsuit argues the state is violating these patients' rights under the U.S. Constitution by enacting a law that deprives out-of-state residents of 'life, liberty or property, without due process,' and for limiting interstate commerce, which includes medical care.

The lawsuit asked the U.S. District Court in Camden to prohibit state officials and the Camden County prosecutor from enforcing this provision of the law because it violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause , Dormant Commerce Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Compassion and Choices said.

Wednesday's ruling rejected this request to stop enforcing the law's residency mandate.

"We are disappointed that the court failed to recognize that barring medical care based solely on where patients live not only violates the Constitution but upends the standard of care for healthcare delivery. We are confident that this decision is merely a temporary roadblock to ensuring access to medical aid in dying for all Americans," said attorney David B. Bassett, a partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP in New York , and co-counsel in the case.

New Jersey's Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act requires a patient's physician to determine whether or not a terminally ill person who requests medical aid in dying is a New Jersey resident before writing a prescription for the medication, the non-profit said. In opting for medical aid in dying, they may obtain a prescription for medication from a doctor, which they may then self-ingest at a time of their choosing.

The lawsuit was the third in the nation to challenge a medical aid-in-dying law's residency requirement, which is required in ten states: Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, Montana, New Mexico and Vermont, and Washington D.C., officials said.

Of those ten, only Vermont and Oregon permit out-of-state residents to use their aid in dying laws, as a result of legal challenges brought by Compassion & Choices.

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