Opponents of the measure sued, and on December 27, 1994, U.S. District Judge Michael Robert Hogan issued a preliminary injunction forbidding the state from enforcing the statute, then, on August 3, 1995, declared the law unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. However, after the Supreme Court of the United States rejected that reasoning in "Washington v. Glucksberg" (1997), the measure was allowed to take effect. A 1997 referral to voters by the Oregon Legislative Assembly aimed to repeal the Death with Dignity Act but was defeated by a 60% margin.