Assisted Suicide In NJ Is For Residents Only, Appeals Court Rules

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge to New Jersey’s assisted dying law, ruling the state may continue limiting the option to New Jersey residents only.

The decision was issued Friday, Dec. 5, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which upheld a lower court ruling that dismissed the lawsuit, according to court records.

In the opening of the opinion, Judge Stephanos Bibas addressed the human stakes behind the case.

"Death brings good things to an end, but rarely neatly," he wrote. "Many terminally ill patients face a grim reality: imminent, painful death. Some may want to avert that suffering by enlisting a doctor’s help to end their own lives. New Jersey lets its residents make that choice—but only its residents."

The lawsuit was initially brought by two terminally ill women from outside New Jersey and two New Jersey doctors who challenged the law’s residency requirement.

Over time, the case narrowed. One of the doctors retired during the litigation. A Pennsylvania woman died before a lower court upheld the residency rule. A Delaware woman with late-stage lymphoma died after oral arguments were held in the appeals court. That left Dr. Paul Bryman, a New Jersey physician, as the only remaining plaintiff, court records show.

New Jersey legalized medical aid in dying in 2019 for terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live. The law allows doctors to prescribe medication that patients must take themselves, but only if they can prove New Jersey residency and meet strict medical and procedural requirements, according to the filing.

A major concern raised in the case involved neighboring Pennsylvania, where assisted suicide remains a crime. The court noted that while a prescription may be legally written in New Jersey, a doctor could face legal risk if a patient returned to another state and took the medication there.

By limiting the law to residents, the court said, New Jersey helps keep both patients and the medication within its borders, protects doctors from potential prosecution, and avoids conflicts with states that have chosen not to legalize assisted dying.

Judges also pointed to concerns about protecting vulnerable patients from pressure and ensuring end-of-life decisions are carefully considered under New Jersey’s oversight.

In the end, the Third Circuit ruled that doctor-assisted suicide is not a fundamental constitutional right and that New Jersey may limit access to the law to its own residents.