Euthanasia Essay - Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal?

Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal?

Throughout the twentieth century, major scientific and medical

advances have greatly enhanced the life expectancy of the average person.

However, there are many instances where doctors can preserve life

artificially. In these cases where the patient suffers from a terminal

disease or remains in a "persistent vegetative state" or PVS from which

they cannot voice their wishes for continuation or termination of life, the

question becomes whether or not the patient has the freedom to choose

whether or not to prolong their life even though it may consist of pain and

suffering. In answer to this question, proponents of physician-assisted

suicide, most notably, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, are of the opinion that not only

should patients be able to abstain from treatment, but if they have a

terminal and/or extremely painful condition, they should be able to seek

out the assistance of a doctor in order to expedite their death with as

little pain as possible. Contained herein are the arguments for and against

the le galization of doctor-assisted suicide, as well as where the state

courts stand in respect to this most delicate of issues. In the hopes of

clarification, we must first distinguish between active and passive

euthanasia. Passive euthanasia involves the patient's refusal of medical

assistance. It involves the right to die which is protected by the United

States Constitution clauses of due process liberty and the right to privacy

(Fourteenth Amendment). The right to doctor-assisted suicide, or active

euthanasia, consists of, "...a patient's right to authorize a physician to

perform an act that intentionally results in the patient's death, without

the physician's being held civilly or criminally liable for having caused

the death" . The "passive" form of euthanasia was first deemed legal by the

New Jersey State Supreme Court in 1976 In re Quinlan . In the Quinlan case,

the court allowed a competent patient to terminate the use of life-

sustaining medical machines to prolong life. Since New Jersey's decision,

all fifty states have enacted similar statutes which contain living will

provisions. However, although the United States Supreme Court upheld the

Quinlan decision in re Cruzan , it changed the parameters of passive

euthanasia . With the Cruzan decision, the Supreme Court held that passive

euthanasia was legal but only for competent adults or those who are