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Full-Text Articles in Health Policy
The Constitutional Right To Die: Ethical Considerations, Lawrence O. Gostin
The Constitutional Right To Die: Ethical Considerations, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
In this commentary, the author first looks at some ethical reasoning supporting physician-assisted dying. Second, he examines some of the lines that have been drawn between withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining treatment on the one hand, and physician-assisted dying on the other. Finally, he relates both of these matters to constitutional reasoning, beginning with Cruzan and ending with the cases before the Supreme Court at the time of the article's publication.
Drawing A Line Between Killing And Letting Die: The Law, And Law Reform, On Medically Assisted Dying, Lawrence O. Gostin
Drawing A Line Between Killing And Letting Die: The Law, And Law Reform, On Medically Assisted Dying, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Traditional medical ethics and law draw a sharp distinction between allowing a patient to die and helping her die. Withholding or withdrawing life sustaining treatment, such as by abating technological nutrition, hydration or respiration, will cause death as surely as a lethal injection. The former, however, is a constitutional right for a competent or once-competent patient, while the latter poses a risk of serious criminal or civil liability for the physician, even if the patient requests it.