Dr. Timothy Quill and three other terminally ill patients filed a case against the Attorney General of New York State claiming violation of the Equal Protection Clauses. The New York State law allowed discontinuation of life-saving treatment for a competent person who was terminally ill, however, it imposed a ban on physician assisted suicide. The district court did not agree but the Court of Appeals reversed stating that they were moreover similar things and the ban was an unequal treatment. The Supreme Court granted a certiorari.
Issue: There is a clear distinction between refusing a life-saving treatment and physician assisted suicide, does the terminally ill patients vies this distinction as an operating violation of Equal Protection Clause?
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Show MoreThe district court found that the Washington law violated both the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari. 4. Issue Three terminal ill patients and four doctors brought forth a case challenging Washington State’s position on assisted suicide.
One main decision that could have been changed was lines 37-40. It was when the dad saw flood coming and was yelling to run. If he hadn’t seen the flood things would be different because then his family couldn’t have noticed until it was too late. Gertrude could have well been dead, along with most of her family. The other decision is when Maxwell McArchen jumps off the roof to help Gertrude.
Washington v. Glucksberg Price, 5 Washington v. Glucksberg: Right to Privacy Roseanna Price Liberty High School AP Government: 4A Washington v. Glucksberg (1997) was a controversial case dealing with physician assisted suicide (IIT Chicago- Kent College of Law, 2015). Physician assisted suicide is a competent decision by the patient to have their doctor prescribe them drugs to give themselves to eradicate themselves (Materstvedt, 2003). Washington law states that anyone who knowingly cause or helps in another person attempting suicide is guilty of promoting suicide, i.e physician assisted suicide.
Attorney General Ashcroft does not have the legal right to threaten physicians with revoking their license since, only seven years before Oregon passed the Act which allowed to assist their patients in death. Some may believe that the Attorney General took his personal and moral opinion to work, where he could change law to his preference. The District court agreed with the statement above, therefore, they concluded that Attorney General Ashcroft did not have the authority to override a state 's decision regarding what is or is not a "legitimate medical practice" and that Ashcroft exceeded his authority under the CSA. In July 2005, Oregon v. Ashcroft changes to Gonzales v. Oregon.
he child's maternal grandmother stated Anna has a history of domestic violence, drug use, and suicidal ideation. The reporter stated Anna has been diagnosed as bipolar and is currently on suicide watch by local law enforcement. Tamara stated Anna was recently released from jail and had plans to spend time with the victim and the reporter while she gets back on track and pick up her medications. Anna left the home on 10/20/15 and has not returned and the reporter has received text messages from Anna stating plans to take her life and heard from others that at this time Anna may be suicidal and plans to come pick up Addyson. Tamara stated she's had custody of Addyson all her life and contacted her lawyer; Ms. Wright's lawyer told her there was
Mary Smith’s biggest fear is how her son, Brian Smith, 29, will survive when she and her husband die; a grim realization that she has come to terms with. Her son has down syndrome and the functional level of a three-year-old. Her son requires around the clock care and ca not be left alone. “I don’t think you are allowed to legally leave a three-year old alone,” said Mrs. Smith. “I would be put in jail if I left a three-year old alone and my house went on fire, and my three-year old died.”
In another case, Larry Macafee was involved in a motorcycle accident causing him to become paralyzed from the neck down. He could not breath on his own, his insurance was running out and he did not want to burden his family with medical bills. The right to die decision did not appear until his ventilator had been dislodged and he almost suffocated. At that moment he stared death in the eyes. He filed a law suit and won the case, which should have been the end of his suffering, but instead became a chance to be persuaded not to go through with it.
The Equal Protection Clause under the fourteenth amendment of the U.S. constitution states that “No state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This clause is utilized upon arguing for allowing assisted suicide due to the fact that “New York permits a competent person to refuse life sustaining medical treatment, and because the refusal of such treatment is ‘essentially the same thing’ as a physician assisted suicide…” (Vacco v Quill, p. 423). As previously stated, both refusing medical treatment that could keep you from death, or prolong the process, and assisted suicide are being drawn by comparison to make the claim or argument that both cases should be treated equally under the Equal Protection
Lee Johnson, who lived in Oregon, was a retired federal worker who began a subsequent career as a furniture maker. He then developed brain cancer. Although the disease was inevitably going to kill him, he took the necessary precautions intended to extend his life. However, his condition worsened and he became bedridden and endured blurred vision, soreness, and a lot of pain.
The United States Government has taken a rather laissez-faire approach to an aspect of life that could ease a person’s suffering – Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) – Euthanasia. In the United States, five states have legalized physician-assisted suicide via legislation of which one requires court ruling for the suicide to be legal. The physician-assisted suicide is illegal in the remaining 46 states. Out of the 46 states, four, including Nevada, have no specific laws regarding assisted suicide or are unclear on the legality of the issue. Nevada has not enacted any law against assisted suicide and does not recognize common law crimes regarding this matter.
Kleiman, who believes that laws prohibiting assisted suicide must be abolished, is a professor of public policy at New York University 's Marron Institute of Urban Management, whereas Byock, who is completely opposed to any law change, is a professor of medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Kleiman and Byock have both compelling and opposing viewpoints on this controversial subject, and rule the other to be highly unethical.
In both of these cases the Supreme Court gave sympathy to the terminally ill patients and claimed that the patient does have the right to refuse medical treatment. With the improving technology and medicine many states have started to take another look behind their stances on assisted suicide. So, because of the rising and improvements in medicine and technology, many states have started to investigate to see if physician-assisted suicide is appropriate under certain circumstances. All doctors have access to so many different kinds of
Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or
Many people think that there are too many problems with physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is a procedure that allows physicians to prescribe their patients a lethal medication that they can inject themselves with in order to die on their own terms. There are specific requirements that the patients must meet in order to receive this medication. Physician assisted suicide is only for patients that have life threatening illnesses and do not have much time left to live. It is legal in numerous places around the world including certain places in the United States.
Physician assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means required to commit suicide, including prescribing lethal amounts of harmful drugs to a patient. In the United States alone, there is great controversy about physician assisted suicide. The issue is whether physician assisted suicide is murder or an act of sympathy for the patient. The main point is that terminally ill patients should have a right to physician assisted suicide if it meets their needs and is done properly. Physician assisted suicide is an appropriate action for the terminally ill that want to end their life in peace before it ends at the hands of the terminal disease.