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New Mexico Court Of Appeals Strikes Down Right-To-Die Law

The New Mexico Court of Appeals has struck down a prior Bernalillo County District Court ruling that essentially allowed assisted suicide in the state.

In a split decision Tuesday, a majority of the court concluded "that aid in dying is not a fundamental liberty interest under the New Mexico Constitution."

A District Court judge previously ruled that a 1963 state statute making assisted suicide a fourth-degree felony in the state was invalid as applied to physicians who administer a lethal dose of medication to a terminally-ill patient.

The Court of Appeals also reversed the district court's decision to stop the state from enforcing the 1963 law and instructed district courts to stop proceedings in further assisted suicide and right-to-die cases.

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