The Case For Euthanasia: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized? Through

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Term Paper Title	The Case For Euthanasia: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized? Through
# of Words	1466
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.86

The Case for Euthanasia: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legalized? 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 legalization 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 incompetent but have previously procur...

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