FILE – In this Jan. 17, 2014 file photo, perennial candidate John Jay Hooker attends a meeting of the Tennessee Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission in Nashville, Tenn. Hooker, who is running for governor as an independent this year, in a Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, letter urges Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to seek clarification about which ballots should be counted in the Nov. 4 vote to amend the state constitution. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File) NASHVILLE — A former Democratic gubernatorial candidate who is terminally ill cannot die by assisted suicide, a judge ruled Tuesday, saying doctors engaging in such a practice are committing “criminal conduct.”
John Jay Hooker, 84, has terminal cancer and has doctors who have expressed a willingness to prescribe him a lethal dosage of painkillers.
State law allows a person to refuse end-of-life care, but aid-in-dying or assisted suicide is illegal in Tennessee. Doctors in Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana can prescribe life-ending drugs, and California lawmakers passed legislation earlier this month that would allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives.
In Tennessee, doctors sought protection from prosecution if Hooker was administered the drugs.
Chancellor Carol McCoy ruled against the plaintiffs. She said they “do not have standing to bring this action.”