Physician Assisted Suicide Essays (2384 words) - Euthanasia

Physician Assisted Suicide Many voters throughout the United States are taking the measure to legalize physician assisted suicide to the polls. If it is legalized, the United States will have legalized a much quicker, more humane method(as opposed to terminal sedation) of ending the suffering of terminally ill patients. The only legal process of this sort in the United States is terminal sedation, a method that can oftentimes add to a patient's problems. Although Oregon is the only state to have successfully passed such a bill for the legalization of physician assisted suicide, the pressure to confront this issue is growing along with the movement for legalization. Opponents of the Oregon bill, mostly Christian conservative groups, are planning to appeal this case to the Supreme Court in hopes of a reversal of the Oregon Supreme Court's decision. Though the emotional battle of physician assisted suicide is the prerogative of voters on both sides of the issue, the fundamental question that will have to be answe red by the Courts is whether or not the liberty observed by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment contains a right to perform suicide, which itself includes a right to assistance in doing so. This clause states, ?No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.? (United States Constitution, Amendment 14) Tierce, 2 In order to constitutionally create a previously unspecified ?right? the Supreme Court must conclude that such a ?right ? is either deeply rooted into the nation's history and tradition, or is fundamental to sustaining the liberty provided in the Constitution. The court should also have a very specific description of what is to be entailed within this ?right?. The difficulty in arguing for assisted suicide is that since the justification for assisted suicide is not historical or necessary for ordered liberty, the state must only prove that assisted suicide is within the perimeters of exercising what is best for the nation as a whole. The Supreme Court has earlier stated that, ?This requirement is unquestionably me here,? citing as concerns: preserving human life; preventing suicide; protecting the integrity and the ethics of the medical profession; protecting vulnerable groups from abuse, neglect, and mistakes; and preventing a start ?down the path to voluntary and perhaps even invol untary euthanasia.? (Annas, 1100) The possibility of legalization is, however, still quite probable, especially as one uses the Dutch government as an example, where physician assisted suicide is illegal but not prosecutable if executed under certain specified legal guidelines. The practice of physician assisted suicide in the Netherlands has been defined over many years of legal processes Tierce, 3 and medical ethics, beginning in 1973, when the first case against physician assisted suicide went to trial. The courts found the physician guilty of the crime, but suspended her sentence and effectively ruled out the threat of future prosecution. In many Dutch cases between 1973 and 1984 the courts established necessary conditions for not prosecuting a physician for assisting in a suicide. The patient must first make the request for euthanasia, and then repeat the request explicitly acknowledging their desire to die. The patient must also be suffering from a disease that has brought about severe physical or mental pain with no hope of recovery. The final case in 1984 resulted in the addition of a third guideline which required a physician to consult a colleague to verify the diagnosis, and to design the plan for euthanasia as to not inflict unnecessary suffering on others concerned. Nevertheless problems arose in the Netherlands concerning the legality of euthanasia. Thus in 1993 the Dutch Parliament passed measures to clarify the state of physician assisted suicide laws. Under the new law physician assisted suicide is still punishable by up to 12 years in prison, but if the established guidelines are followed, the practice is safely shielded by the legal system. The law requires that patients be euthanized in accordance with the following ?carefulness Tierce, 4 requirements.? (Russell, 781) The first requires that a request for death must be made entirely of the patient's free will and could