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Cult
of Calhoun
A different spin on the Ashcroft’s assisted suicide move.
By
NR Editors
From “The Week,” December 3,
2001, issue of National Review
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 ttorney
general John Ashcroft moved, it is said, to "overturn" Oregon's
law permitting assisted suicide. Critics, mostly liberals, say that
his action demonstrates that conservatives are hypocrites when they
defend states' rights. But that appearance is solely the result of
an imprecise formulation. What Ashcroft has done is to say, in effect,
Look, Oregon voters can decide what the State of Oregon will or will
not prosecute. But they cannot nullify federal law. And federal law
prohibits doctors from using drugs to kill people deliberately. For
the same reason, state referenda cannot legalize the medical use of
marijuana; they can only register disagreement with the federal prohibition.
Opponents of federal drug law should work to repeal or amend that
law. Until that time, the question to ponder is not whether conservatives
have abandoned federalism-but whether liberals, in taking up the cause
of nullification, should pay homage to John C. Calhoun. |
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