Good news! On Wednesday December 7th, Judge Chabbria of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the Shavelson case, with prejudice.
Michelle Uzeta, the DREDF attorney who prepared our excellent Disability Amicus Brief, says this means the case is over at the district court level. NDY previously reported on the Brief HERE. Regarding this week’s ruling on the dismissal of the case, Michelle also wrote this to the Disability Amici (friends of the court):
If the plaintiffs want to continue to try and legally eliminate the self-administration requirement of the End of Life Options Act (ELOA), they will have to try their luck on appeal.
The judge found that the plaintiff’s lacked standing to pursue their claims, but added that even had they established standing, the claims would nonetheless fail on the merits. Judge Chabbria found (as he has earlier in the case) that elimination of the self-administration requirement would constitute a “fundamental alteration” of the ELOA, crossing the line from aid-in-dying to euthanasia.
The court also granted our motion to file our amicus brief, ensuring that the brief is part of the official record on appeal.
Thank you for all your support as amici in the case. I believe it made a difference.
NDY adds our thanks to the organizations that joined DREDF’s important brief:
American Association of People with Disabilities, Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network, Disability Rights Legal Center, National Council on Independent Living, National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities, Patients’ Rights Action Fund, United Spinal Association and World Institute on Disability.