Catholic Provider Must Defend Aid-in-Dying Ban in State Court

A battle over Catholic health-care provider Centura Health Corp.'s policy of prohibiting its doctors from providing aid in dying to terminally ill patients must be fought in state court, a federal court in Colorado said.

The court didn’t have subject matter jurisdiction over patient Cornelius Mahoney’s and physician Barbara Morris’s claims that Centura’s policy interferes with their rights to receive and give assistance under Colorado’s End-of-Life Options Act, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado said Oct. 3.

Mahoney is a mentally competent, terminally ill patient who desires to end his life. He consulted with Morris, who would ...