An appeals court Tuesday overturned the restraining order that halted New Jersey’s “Aid in Dying” law, which enables terminally ill people to obtain a prescription and end their lives.
Yosef Glassman, the physician in Englewood who challenged the law on religious and professional grounds, immediately filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court, his attorney Rich Grohmann said.
The appeals court also denied Glassman’s request to keep the restraining order in place while the case moves to the state’s highest court, Grohmann said.
The "Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act” Gov. Phil Murphy signed in April was expected to take effect Aug. 1. The earliest a dying patient could have received a lethal prescription would have been Aug. 16 because the law requires the patient make two verbal requests, plus a written one, over 15 days.
Glassman sued to overturn the law and to impose a restraining order so no deaths would take place before the lawsuit was decided. A state judge granted the restraining order on Aug. 14.
On Tuesday, the appeals panel determined the state judge “abused its discretion.”
State Superior Judge Paul Innes, sitting in Mercer County, grant the restraining order because the rules implementing the law were not ready.
Innes said without the completed rules, “the entire death process (is) wholly unregulated."
But the Legislature made its intent clear that the law should take effect Aug. 1, according to the decision on Tuesday. The law also directed the Division of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Health and other rule-making agencies to “take such anticipatory administrative action in advance…(for the) necessary for the implementation of this Act.”
Had the Legislature intended the law to take effect “until a half-dozen administrative bodies decided to engage in their rulemaking functions, it could have clearly said so,” the ruling said.
In appealing the restraining order, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal had asked both the appellate court and the state Supreme Court to quickly overturn the ruling because “terminally ill patients and their families have taken affirmative steps in reliance on the time lines in the Act, and will be forced to continue in the intense suffering, pain, and indignity of terminal illnesses from which they seek immediate relief.”
One family “is now incredibly distraught as a result of the trial court’s order,” Grewal’s petition said.
On Thursday, Freddy Kalles of Fort Lee told NJ Advance Media that his wife, Katie Kim, was prepared to make the request for the lethal prescription, and they were distraught over the delay. Kim has Multiple System Atrophy, an incurable neurological disorder that attacks the lungs and muscles. She is unable to walk or feed herself and lives with constant pain, Kalles said.
“Every day I tell her I love her. Every day Katie asks me to help her die,” Kalles said.
Kalles could not immediately be reached for comment.
The state Attorney General’s Office could not be reached for comment.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
This is a breaking story that will be updated.