India's Supreme Court Suspends and Grants Review of State Court Decision Outlawing Santhara

BBC reports that yesterday India's Supreme Court agreed to review a decision of the Rajasthan High Court that held Santhara, a traditional Jain practice of starving oneself to death to attain salvation, is suicide under India's Penal Code. (See prior posting.) The Supreme Court suspended the Rajasthan court's judgment while the appeal is in process.

Indian Court Bars Jain Practice of Santhara As Suicide

In India, the Rajasthan High Court, acting on a public interest petition, held that Santhara, a traditional Jain practice of starving oneself to death to attain salvation (background), is suicide under the Indian Penal Code. Thus Sec. 306 outlawing abeting of suicide and Section 309 outlawing attempted suicide apply. The court said in part:

The respondents failed to establish that Santhara is an essential religious practice without which the following of Jain religion is not permissible.

According to the Calcutta Telegraph, the activist who filed the suit says: "... Santhara is a way devised by the family to get rid of the economic burden of caring for its elderly." Jain organizations say they will appeal the decision.

Court Says New Mexico Constitution Allows Physician "Aid In Dying"

In Morris v. Brandenberg,(NM Dist. Ct., Jan. 13, 2014), a New Mexico state trial court held that:

the liberty, safety and happiness interest of a competent, terminally ill patient to choose aid in dying is a fundamental right under our New Mexico Constitution.

The court defined aid in dying as "the practice of a physician providing a mentally competent, terminally ill patient with a prescription for medication which the patient may choose to ingest to achieve a peaceful death and thereby avoid further suffering."  The court enjoined the state from prosecuting physicians under the state's ban on assisting suicide (NMSA 1978 Sec. 30-2-4) for providing aid in dying to terminally ill, mentally competent individuals. The ACLU issued a  press release announcing the decision. The Santa Fe Reporter reports on the decision.