Appeals Court Vacates Invalidation of California's Assisted Suicide Law

In People ex rel Becerra v. Superior Court of Riverside County, (CA App., Nov. 27, 2018), a California state appellate court issued a writ of mandate ordering the trial court to vacate its decision striking down California's End of Life Option Act.  The Act legalizes physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill.  The trial court had held that the Act was outside the scope of the proclamation calling the special session of the legislature that passed it.  The majority in the appellate court held that plaintiffs-- doctors and a Christian medical society-- lack standing to bring the challenge.  Judge Slough, dissenting in part, argued that the court should reach the merits of the challenge to the law and should hold that the law was constitutionally enacted.  Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.