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Renewed Compassion For The Dying In Compassion In Dying V. State Of Washington, Cara Elkin

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Compassion In Dying v. State of Washington, three patients, five physicians, and a non-profit organization called Compassion in Dying challenged the constitutionality of a Washington State statute which bans all assisted suicide, including physician-assisted death requested by terminally ill, mentally competent adults. The district court held the statute unconstitutional for violating the patient-plaintiffs' Fourteenth Amendment liberty interests and equal protection rights." A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit held that no constitutional right to die exists under either the Due Process or Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Ninth Circuit granted review …