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Norton Says Harris Falsely Denies Lack of Authority to Ban Medical Aid in Dying Nationwide, Cowardly Chooses to Abuse D.C.

July 19, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said that Representative Andy Harris (R-MD) falsely asserted to the press that Congress does not have the authority to ban medical aid in dying nationwide. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment offered by Harris to the fiscal year 2018 District of Columbia Appropriations bill that would repeal D.C.'s new medical aid-in-dying law, the Death with Dignity Act (DWDA).

"Representative Harris is misleading the public to justify his attack on the democratic rights of what he perceives to be a powerless jurisdiction," Norton said. "Representative Harris says medical aid in dying is bad policy—surely he must know that the practice is being utilized in many states. If Representative Harris had the courage of his convictions, he would immediately introduce a bill to ban the procedure nationwide. He has not done so, likely because 73 percent of Americans support medical aid in dying and 24 House Republicans, including Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), represent the six states where the practice is legal. Compounding the cowardly nature of Harris' attack, he has chosen to hide his D.C. repeal in a larger spending bill, rather than debating it openly on the House floor in the light of day. While I support the policy of medical aid in dying and would oppose a nationwide ban, I cannot sit idly by while my constituents are bullied and singled out for abuse."

Under the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause, there are few limits to Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce, including the practice of medicine. Congress could outright prohibit physicians from prescribing medicine with the intent of causing death. The reason a nationwide ban has not been introduced in recent years is clear. It has failed before, and likely would fail again. Soon after Oregon became the first state to implement medical aid in dying, two Republican-led Congresses spent considerable time trying to effectively ban medical aid in dying by prohibiting physicians from prescribing medication subject to the Controlled Substances Act for medical aid in dying—the Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 1998 and the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999. Both bills failed to be enacted. No member of Congress has introduced a bill this Congress to ban medical aid in dying nationwide.

In January, Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced disapproval resolutions to nullify the DWDA during the congressional review period for D.C. legislation, but Norton kept the House bill from going to the floor after it was approved by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and kept the Senate bill from even being considered. In May, President Trump's fiscal year 2018 budget proposed prohibiting D.C. from spending its local funds to carry out the DWDA.

Harris is a serial abuser of Congress' authority over D.C. He sponsored the appropriations amendment that has prohibited the District from spending its local funds to commercialize marijuana.