Law Commons^™

Seeking Compassion In Dying: The Washington State Law Against Assisted Suicide, Edward J. Larson

Seattle University Law Review

From a constitutional standpoint, the decision by Judge Rothstein is more significant than the Oregon initiative because her reasoning calls into question statutes against assisted suicide that are currently in effect in most American states and are part of traditional Anglo-American law. Her ruling goes far beyond the Oregon initiative (now the Death With Dignity Act), which created a narrow statutory exception in the law against assisted suicide. It establishes a broad, new constitutional right that will restrict legislative efforts to address this controversial social issue. The decision was unprecedented; no prior court had limited a state's authority to outlaw …

Practical Implications For Health Care Providers In A Physician-Assisted Suicide Environment, Donald E. Spencer, Ed.D.

Seattle University Law Review

In this Article, I present key practical implications that the attorney and health care providers need to consider. I also present implications for public policy. I do not take a stand in the Article for or against physician-assisted suicide, either morally, ethically, or legally. Other articles in this Review and numerous other professional publications do. Instead, this Article begins the discussion of procedures for health care providers in an environment of legal physician-assisted suicide. An attorney who advises legal review of proposed procedures for handling physician-assisted suicide requests will serve the health care provider well. The procedures must meet the …

Medical Concerns About Physician-Assisted Suicide, Peter M. Mcgough, M.D.

Seattle University Law Review

The November 8, 1994 passage of Oregon's Measure 16, which permits physicians to comply with the request of a competent adult patient with less than six months to live for a prescription for lethal drugs, has intensified the debate over the legalization of physician-assisted suicide following the defeats of similar initiatives in Washington and California. Subsequent legal challenge to Measure 16 and the present preliminary injunction3 has shown that passage and popularity of a public initiative does not ensure its legality. The issue of physician-assisted suicide is most likely headed for the United States Supreme Court. This Article is intended, …

Exposing Some Myths About Physician-Assisted Suicide, Giles R. Scofield

Seattle University Law Review

From my perspective, the fuss about physician-assisted suicide is about as important as re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Given the current state of our health care system, which remains in a state of crisis regardless—and perhaps because of—what did not happen last year, the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is morally essential only to those who are indifferent to the health care needs and concerns of most Americans. You now know that I do have something to say about this issue. Instead of engaging in the debate, however, I intend to engage the debate. By that, I mean that …

Preface, Annette E. Clark

Seattle University Law Review

On November 18, 1994, the Seattle University School of Law and the Seattle University Law Review proudly sponsored A Symposium on the Legal, Medical, Ethical, and Societal Issues Surrounding Physician-Assisted Death. This Symposium was notable not only for its timely subject matter, but also because it was the first of our annual symposia to be held under the auspices of our new parent institution, Seattle University. From the earliest planning stages, the Seattle University administration and academic community exhibited remarkable support and enthusiasm for this endeavor. The Symposium and this issue thus mark the beginning of what promises to be …

Physician Involvement In Life-Ending Practices, Thomas A. Preston

Seattle University Law Review

This Article explains that we need to acknowledge physicians' widespread involvement in ending patients' lives by a variety of means, from withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment to euthanasia. Our inquiry should move from appearance and professional acceptance of practices to the conditions under which society allows physicians to be involved in ending patients' lives.

Physician-Assisted Suicide, Albert R. Jonsen

Seattle University Law Review

This Article briefly summarizes the history of the euthanasia debate in the United States, describes the classical arguments for and against euthanasia, examines the terms of the current debate, and concludes that while society may want to recognize a competent patient's right to escape the suffering of a terminal illness, it should do so with humility—and with caution.

Helping The Grim Reaper: Oregon's Measure 16 And Three Court Cases Put Assisted Suicide On A Fast Track To Supreme Court, Yale Kamisar, N. Schuyler, T. Balmer

Articles

Last November, Oregon's voters passed by initiative the first physician-assisted suicide law in the nation. Measure 16 authorizes physicians to prescribe lethal medicaiton for competent, terminally ill adults if they make three separate requests, wait 15 days to reconsider, and get a second medical opinion of their prognosis. The new law was challenged immediately on several legal grounds; plaintiffs have won a preliminary injunction, and arguments have been scheduled in cross motions for summary jugement. Lee v. Oregon (D Or. No. 94-6467-ITO).

The Oregon court's decision will mark the fourth time in the past year that the once-obscure issue of …

Physician Assisted Suicide: The Last Bridge To Active Voluntary Euthanasia, Yale Kamisar

Book Chapters

SOME 30 YEARS AGO an eminent constitutional law scholar, Charles L. Black, Jr, spoke of 'toiling uphill against that heaviest of all argumental weights- the weight of a slogan.' I am reminded of that observation when I confront the slogan the 'right to die.' Few rallying cries or slogans are more appealing and seductive than the 'right to die.' But few are more fuzzy, more misleading, or more misunderstood.

Physician Aid In Dying: A Humane Option, A Constitutionally Protected Choice, Kathryn L. Tucker, David J. Burman

Seattle University Law Review

This Article presents the argument that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the individual decision to hasten death with physician-prescribed medication and that statutes prohibiting physician-assisted suicide deny equal protection, guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, to competent, terminally-ill adults who are not on life support.

Against Assisted Suicide - Even A Very Limited Form (Symposium: Assisted Suicide, Health Care And Medical Treatment Choices), Yale Kamisar

Articles

Professor Robert Sedler is a leading constitutional law professor and a well-known civil liberties lawyer. I think he is right about many things. To cite but one example, I think he was right when he led the ACLU's successful legal attack on certain University of Michigan restrictions on "hate speech."' But I cannot agree with him about physician-assisted suicide, no matter how narrowly he frames the issue.2