Bar Assn. Takes No Position on Doctor-Assisted Suicide

The American Bar Assn. refused Wednesday to take a stand on doctor-assisted suicide, voting that the matter be left to state legislatures.

In adopting the innocuous proposal during the association’s annual meeting, the group shied away from becoming embroiled in a controversial issue that some members warned could result in a drop in membership and hurt the bar’s public image.

The issue had pitted more conservative members of the association against those who felt it was the group’s duty to take positions on key legal issues of the day.

The proposal approved by the association said that if a state or territory passed a law allowing doctor-assisted suicide, it should ensure that information and reporting systems were established to closely monitor the impact of such practices.

The Beverly Hills Bar Assn. had planned to submit a proposal suggesting that the ABA support legislation that would allow doctor-assisted suicide, and the matter had been scheduled to be debated Wednesday.

But late Tuesday, when the group realized it could not win, it revised the proposal and submitted a watered-down version. Even that proposal was dropped Wednesday in favor of the one submitted by the Senior Lawyers Division.