Compassion Legal: The End-of-Life Justice Center at Compassion & Choices reacted Friday to a decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that New Jersey’s residency requirement in its medical aid in dying law is constitutional. Compassion Legal had appealed a federal district court’s 2024 ruling upholding the residency requirement.
The case is Bryman v. Murphy but was previously Govatos v. Murphy. The decision is here.
The Third Circuit did not reverse last year’s ruling and agreed with the District Court that plaintiff physician Paul Bryman should not have the option to prescribe medical aid in dying to terminally ill patients who are not also New Jersey residents. However, the court did rule that Dr. Bryman has standing to sue on behalf of himself and his patients.
“I am deeply disappointed by today’s ruling,” said Dr. Bryman. “Terminal patients outside New Jersey should have the option of medical aid in dying without having to travel long distances.”
The court dismissed all three claims on the pleadings. Compassion Legal’s appeal, argued by Ryan Chabot of WilmerHale, asserted that the District Court wrongly dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims that New Jersey’s residency requirement violates the U.S. Constitution’s Privileges & Immunities Clause, Dormant Commerce Clause, and Equal Protection Clause by “… going outside the pleadings, resolving disputed facts, and drawing inferences against Plaintiffs.”
“Despite this decision, access to medical aid in dying remains a critically important option for all terminally ill people who wish to receive healthcare in the state of New Jersey,” said Jess Pezley, senior staff attorney for Compassion Legal. “Today’s ruling means that terminally ill patients who do not live in an authorized jurisdiction will continue to have to travel all the way to Oregon or Vermont to have the option of medical aid in dying in this country.”
“We continue to believe that residency restrictions impermissibly limit a person’s ability to access healthcare and a doctor’s ability to offer healthcare to their patients,” said Ryan Chabot, Counsel at WilmerHale. “Patients in all states deserve to have the full range of end-of-life care options.”
Judy Govatos and Andrea Sealy, who were at one time plaintiffs in the case, passed away before the decision was reached.
“I’ve advocated for years to simply ensure that my final days will be defined by peace without needless suffering,” said Ms. Govatos, patient plaintiff and Wilmington, Delaware resident with incurable stage-4 lymphoma, before her death.
Filed in August 2023, Govatos et. al v. Murphy asserted that the residency requirement of New Jersey’s medical aid-in-dying law violates the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the Dormant Commerce Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The case was filed on behalf of Judy Govatos, a Delaware resident with incurable stage-4 lymphoma and Dr. Paul Bryman, a New Jersey-based physician.
A federal judge ruled in September 2024 that the residency requirement was constitutional. Compassion & Choices appealed in October, asserting that the residency mandate violates the U.S. Constitution by denying non-residents access to this compassionate end-of-life option solely based on their state of residence.
The New Jersey lawsuit was the third in the nation to challenge a medical aid-in-dying law’s residency requirement. Eleven jurisdictions nationwide have passed medical aid-in-dying laws with a residency mandate (California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C.). But two states have removed the residency requirement following legal challenges by Compassion & Choices. In 2022, the end-of-life care advocacy group successfully settled a similar federal lawsuit in Oregon, resulting in the suspension of that state’s residency requirement. In 2023, Compassion & Choices settled a similar federal lawsuit in Vermont. Vermont and Oregon updated their medical aid-in-dying laws to remove the residency requirement in May and July 2023, respectively. More at: https://compassionandchoices.org/case/govatos-v-murphy
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Compassion Legal: The End-of-Life Justice Center at Compassion & Choices Media Contact: David Blank, 227-225-6553
Compassion Legal: The End of Life Justice Center at Compassion & Choices is the new name and structure for the legal powerhouse within Compassion & Choices behind the fight for autonomy, dignity and justice at life’s end. Compassion Legal is the frontline legal defense for patient-directed care, demanding systems that respect personal choice, informed decision-making and access to the full range of end-of-life options.
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