The Constitutionality of Physician Assisted Suicide Essay...

Physicians assisted suicide (PAS) refers to interventions by a doctor that either intentionally assist a patient to die (as in giving the patient the lethal means to end their own life at their explicit request), or directly ends a patient’s life (as in a lethal medication administered by a doctor at the explicit request of the patient – euthanasia). In recent years the debate over a patient’s possible right to the aid of a physician in committing suicide has become one of the most discussed issues in medical ethics. The argument for and against PAS is not something unique to this century. It has been going on since the time of the ancient Greeks. The Hippocratic Oath has been called the most widely known of Greek medical texts. It†¦show more content†¦Glucksberg, and three of his terminally ill patients, filed suit against the state of Washington to overturn a law that considered assisted suicide a felony. They argued that this law violated liberties pr otected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Due Process Clause forbids the states from depriving â€Å"any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.† The doctors from Washington believed that the state of Washington had infringed upon these rights because they declared knowingly causing or aiding another person to attempt suicide as being punishable by up to five years in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine. The physicians also compared the right to assisted suicide to a woman’s right to decide to have an abortion which was established in the Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey. When tried before a Federal District court it was ruled that the law was unconstitutional, but a Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit disagreed and ruled in favor of the state of Washington. In Vacco v. Quill three doctors, also joined by three terminally ill patients, filed a similar law suit challengi ng the constitutionality of the New York state law which prohibited PAS. In writing on the position of their case Timothy E. Quill described his patients as not being suicidal, â€Å"None of them wanted to die, and all would have chosen other paths had their disease not been so sever and irreversible†¦Show MoreRelatedThe Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms1715 Words   |  7 Pageslandmark case of dealing with assisted suicide in Canada, Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) , the Supreme Court of Canada (hereafter SCC) revisited the issue of assisted suicide and confirmed that Canadians have the constitutional right to choose physician-assisted suicide in certain situations. This case involves several parties, including the family of Kay Carter and Gloria Taylor, who were diagnosed with an incurable disease and campaigned against the constitutionality of certain sections of theRead More Dutch vs. American Euthanasia Essay1250 Words   |  5 PagesDutch vs. American Eutha nasia      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Dutch take their euthanasia seriously. The Dutch government has resubmitted its proposal for formally legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia, while modifying its controversial provision allowing euthanasia for children. When first proposed to Parliament over a year ago, the bill allowed for cases where children from 12 to 16 years old could request and receive euthanasia against the wishes of their parents. The modified proposal still allows childRead MoreQuestionable Popularity Of Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide1355 Words   |  6 PagesQuestionable Popularity of Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide A survey of U.S. oncologists suggests that support for euthanasia and assisted suicide in this profession has declined dramatically in recent years. The survey polled 3299 members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in 1998. It found 22.5% support for physician-assisted suicide for a terminally ill patient with prostate cancer in unremitting pain, compared to 45.5% support in 1994. Euthanasia in this situation was supported byRead MoreA Study Of U.s. Oncologists Recommends That Backing For Assisted Suicide1201 Words   |  5 PagesRough Draft A study of U.S. oncologists recommends that backing for assisted suicide in this time has declined significantly. A study surveyed 3299 individuals from the American Culture of Clinical Oncology in 1998. It discovered 22.5% in support for doctor assisted suicide for a patient in critical condition with unremitting agony, contrasted with 45.5% support for in 1994. Assisted suicide in this circumstance was upheld by 6.5%, contrasted with 22.7% in 1994. Surgical oncologists will probablyRead More Euthanasia Essay - Concerns About Euthanasia1278 Words   |  6 Pages   Ã‚   A medical examiner from Oakland County, Michigan and three researchers from the University of South Florida have studied key characteristics of 69 patients whose suicides were assisted by Jack Kevorkian between 1990 and 1998. Their findings are published in the December 7 New England Journal of Medicine. Autopsies show that only 25 percent of Kevorkians clients were terminally ill when he helped them kill themselves. Seventy-two percent of the patients had had a recent decline in healthRead MoreEssay Problems with Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide1262 Words   |  6 PagesEuthanasia Problems      Ã‚  Doctors do err on cancer patients survival times, so how can they say when the time is ripe for assisted suicide. A study in the July 1 issue of Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, finds that doctors are often wrong in predicting how long terminally ill cancer patients will live. After studying the accuracy of doctors predictions regarding 233 patients with end-of-life cancer, the researchers found most doctors had a tendency to overestimate survivalRead MoreThe Ethics Of Physician Assisted Suicide1723 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician assisted suicide, the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose. The question of whether or not this practice should be made legal in the United States has been one of controversy since 1997. Beginning with the case of Washington v. Glucksberg, where the United States Supreme Court ruled that the matter of the constitutionality of a right to a physician’s aid in dying, was best left up to the statesRead More Euthanasia Essay - Assisted Suicide1579 Words   |  7 PagesAssisted Suicide/Euthanasia      Ã‚   Remarkably, few have noticed that frail, elderly and terminally ill people oppose assisted suicide more than other Americans. The assisted-suicide agenda is moving forward chiefly with vocal support from the young, the able-bodied and the affluent, who may even think that their parents and grandparents share their enthusiasm. They are wrong.    Thus the assisted suicide agenda appears as a victory not for freedom, but for discrimination. At its heartRead MoreShould Physician-assisted Suicide Be Legal? 1473 Words   |  6 Pages Should physician-assisted suicide be legal? This debated subject has no right or wrong answer. Assisting someone in death has a felony murder conviction in some cases. There are a few different ways of being charged, but there are certain circumstances. There are many reasons why I am for it and of course, I have reasons against it. When you have a loved one in a vegetative state, does the family say yes or no to â€Å"pulling the plug?† Is it not the same as assisting a person in death? AnotherRead MoreThe Death Of The Terminally Ill1743 Words   |  7 PagesThis was one patient’s last day on earth, and everyone present continued to pray that she would die soon. I was volunteering for the retirement community my mother worked at, and I was horrified. The atrocities committ ed behind these closed doors in assisted living are not those of abuse, but rather the consequences that arise from having to allow someone die on nature’s time. Many people would respond to the sight at hand with comments about their own death, saying words in joking tones like â€Å"If I ever