PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Death comes quickly for some, but not soon enough for others.
Ten states and the District of Columbia have legalized medically assisted death, while similar bills have been introduced in at least 19 states. Pennsylvania is one of them, though previous versions have failed over the years.
Enter Gordon Roy Parker, a 57-year-old resident of Philadelphia. He's suing in federal court under the novel theory his continued existence on Earth violates constitutional protections against slavery.
He has a long history of bringing his own litigation, often alleging discrimination at the hands of parties like the University of Pennsylvania. He's also an avid chess player, spending his days competing online while he suffers from what he says in his complaint are terminal conditions.
He's representing himself, as he has done in many other cases. He's certainly capable; most pro se cases never get off the ground but several of his have lasted years and moved past defendants' initial motions to dismiss them.
Just like in chess, he's been playing the long game. He started plotting this case decades ago.
"I planned this when I was in my 20s but I just wasn't dying at the time," he said in a recent phone interview. "I had a good amount of cash - well I did, it cost money to live when you're this ill - but enough money to file it (now) so why not?"
Doctors haven't given him a timeframe, but he's entered his test results into ChatGPT to determine he has only 6 to 12 months to live. Excessive fluid buildup in his abdomen and likely end-stage liver disease are the culprits, he says.
A stash of pills or a jump in front of a train would do the trick, he acknowledges.
"I ate like a pig, smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish," he said. "I didn't fear death. I lived my life. I thought I'd be dead at 45 or 50 and all my organs would fail at the same time. That was just 10 years too early."
So, he sits and plays chess. Fatigue is always present, leaving him looking "like a vagrant" because he is too tired to stand and shave, and opioids for pain go un-taken - "They kill my chess game."
Options? Establish residency in states like Vermont and New Jersey, which is four miles away but not much of a Plan B, considering the costs to find a new place to live, he says.
A group of Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced the newest version of death-with-dignity legislation in 2023. It has sat in the House Health Committee for 16 months with no movement whatsoever.
Reps. Carol Hill-Evans and Tarik Khan, plus others, modeled their bill after Oregon's and said it "includes protections to ensure that patients remain the driving force behind end-of-life care discussions and can rescind their decision at any time."
"Unlike in Canada, where many feel that medical aid-in-dying measures lack basic protections and may jeopardize the lives of people with disabilities and their families, this bill respects the lives of those with disabilities and contains over a dozen safeguards to prevent abuse," their memorandum says.
Unlike Parker, the vast majority of persons who seek medical aid in dying are already enrolled in hospice, the memo says. These people face unbearable suffering, it adds, so they should be able to request a prescription that would end their life.
America is among several countries to allow medical aid in dying. Patients are required to show they are of sound mind, and in 2019, the American Medical Association decided doctors can provide the lethal treatment without violating their professional obligations.
Judges have addressed the practice, too, like the Montana Supreme Court. Fifteen years ago, it allowed patients to take physician-prescribed medication to end their lives. Lawmakers there have tried to overturn that ruling with legislation outlawing it but have failed.
The Montana ruling said a law allowing for compassionate deaths of the terminally ill was valid. The case involved a retired truck driver who had suffered through chemotherapy that had stopped being effective against his leukemia.
"(W)e find no indication in Montana law that physician aid in dying provided to terminally ill, mentally competent adult patients is against public policy," the court ruled.
Parker's lawsuit is certainly interesting but whether it opens a road for supporters of medical aid in dying in Pennsylvania remains to be seen. Next door in New Jersey, residents of Delaware and Pennsylvania have sued New Jersey officials like Gov. Matthew Platkin to hold the residency requirement for MAID in the state is unconstitutional.
Judge Renee Marie Bumb is tasked with deciding that issue and is currently weighing New Jersey's motion to dismiss the case. Lawyers with state Attorney General Matthew Platkin's office filed their motion on Jan. 31, saying the MAID law and its residency requirement do not burden any traditionally protected privileges.
"No court has ever recognized a federal or state constitutional right to MAID, and it is not a right fundamental to the promotion of interstate harmony," Platkin's brief says.
"Even if the residency restriction did burden any such protected right, the classification is more than justified by the State's substantial, overriding interest in protecting the liberty and livelihood of New Jersey providers and residents assisting in requests for MAID."
Defendants in Parker's case are Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, AG Michelle Henry, Acting Secretary of Health Deborah Bogen, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Krasner filed his opposition July 1, claiming the relief Parker seeks would allow a federal judge to "short-circuit any legislative process, on the basis of a claimed fundamental right that the Supreme Court has held does not exist."
The Pennsylvania officials filed their response last week, claiming Parker's request for an injunction has failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of his case and that they are immune from suit.
District Judge R. Barclay Surrick has yet to schedule a hearing on Parker's motion for a preliminary injunction. Parker, meanwhile, hopes legislators at some point can act on the proposed bill to allow MAID in the state.
"What compelling interest does the government have in keeping me alive against my will that doesn't violate (anti-slavery laws)?" he said.
"If not, just send me out to a cotton field. What about forcing someone to be homeless?"
He says he'll take the pain that comes from his medical conditions because he's more worried about creating a legacy. One night, he made a list of everyone he thought he'd ever wronged and made his peace with it.
For now, he'll keep pushing his case and playing chess.
"We know when to resign," he said. "There comes a time when you just tilt the king over."