SUICIDE; RIGHT TO DIE; EUTHANASIA

Topic:
SUICIDE; RIGHT TO DIE; EUTHANASIA;
Location:
SUICIDE - ASSISTED;
Scope:
Court Cases; Other States laws/regulations; Connecticut laws/regulations;

You asked for information on (1) physician- assisted suicide, specifically which states or countries allow it and (2) prosecutions for "mercy killings" and related court decisions.

Its "Death with Dignity Act," originally passed in a referendum in 1994 and in effect since 1997 following the lifting of an injunction, allows terminally ill state residents to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications prescribed by a physician for that purpose.

While the act legalizes physician-assisted suicide, it specifically prohibits a physician or other person from directly administering a medication to end another's life.

In 2000, Maine came close to legalizing assisted suicide through a ballot initiative, but the voters narrowly defeated it.

Nationwide, 38 states, including Connecticut explicitly criminalize assisted suicide by statute.

In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia.

That country's law in effect means that physicians no longer face prosecution for carrying out "mercy killings" if they are performed with due care and in accordance with specific guidelines.

Supreme Court held that statutes in New York and Washington prohibiting assisted suicide were not invalidated by the equal protection clause of the 14^th Amendment of the U.

Constitution because they bore a rational relation to the legitimate governmental goals of prohibiting intentional killing and preserving life.

897) allows terminally ill Oregon residents to obtain and use prescriptions from their physicians for self-administered, lethal medications.

Under the act, ending one's life in accordance with the law protects physicians and patients from criminal prosecution.

While the Oregon law legalizes physician-assisted suicide, it specifically prohibits euthanasia, where a physician or other person directly administers a medication to end another's life.

Oregon's law initially passed in a November 1994 referendum by a 51% to 49% margin ("Measure 16").

But before the ballot initiative could take effect, a federal district court in Eugene, Oregon issued an injunction against the law, finding that it was unconstitutional because it lacked sufficient protections for those patients who are not mentally competent.

Another legal issue raised was whether assisted suicide was a "legitimate medical purpose" within the meeting of the 1970 Federal Controlled Substances Act.

Under this law, physicians can prescribe federally regulated drugs for legitimate purposes only.

Attorney General Ashcroft stated that assisted suicide was inconsistent with the public interest.

Oregon's attorney general obtained a temporary restraining order on Ashcroft's directive.

District Court in Oregon upheld the Oregon assisted suicide law and ordered the federal government to cease efforts to prosecute Oregon health care providers who assist terminally ill persons to commit suicide.

More details on the Oregon law, including procedures, requirements, and remaining issues, can be found in a previous OLR report (2002-R-0077) attached.

Currently, 38 states, including Connecticut, explicitly criminalize assisted suicide through statute.

The other states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Nine states (Alabama, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia) criminalize assisted suicide through common law (three states have both a common law and statutory basis for criminalizing assisted suicide).

North Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming abolished the common law of crimes and do not criminalize assisted suicide through statute.

The Ohio legislature has attempted to make assisted suicide illegal through enactment of a new law, but to date, no bill has passed both houses.

Virginia has no clear case law on assisted suicide nor is there a statute criminalizing the act, however, Virginia statute does impose civil sanctions on persons assisting in a suicide.

793 (1997)), respondents argued that the New York statute banning assisted suicide violated the equal protection clause of the 14^th Amendment to the U.

Although the lower court did not agree, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and held that the statute was unconstitutional.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that the New York statute was constitutional and that the state had the right to ban assisted suicide.

Justice Rehnquist's opinion stated that "everyone, regardless of physical condition, is entitled, if competent, to refuse unwanted lifesaving medical treatment;

" The court found that the public interest in preserving life is valid and important.

702 (1997)), respondents argued that Washington's statute banning assisted suicide violated the 14^th Amendment.

The lower court agreed and the Ninth Circuit affirmed that the statute was unconstitutional.

Again in a unanimous decision, Justice Rehnquist held that the state statute was constitutional, making a distinction between refusing or removing life-sustaining treatment and assisting suicide.

He stated, "the history of the law's treatment of assisted suicide in this country has been and continues to be one of the rejection of nearly all efforts to permit it.

That being the case, our decisions lead us to conclude that the asserted `right' to assistance in committing suicide is not a fundamental liberty interest protected by the due process clause" (see End of Life Issues, Health Policy Tracking Service Issue Brief, April 2003).

A common statutory scheme is to create a separate crime of adding and abetting (or assisting) suicide, rather than to treat such cases as murder.

The key to distinguishing between the crimes of murder and of assisting suicide is the active or passive role of the defendant in the suicide.

Generally, if the defendant merely furnishes the means, he is guilty of aiding a suicide;

but if the defendant actively participates in the death of the suicide victim, he is guilty of murder (see Vol.

Defendants around the country have been held liable for murder (as opposed to aiding or abetting suicide) where, in assisting another to commit suicide, they carried out the physical act resulting in the death of the deceased (California, Indiana, Oklahoma, Iowa, Texas, for example).

But where the defendant aided, assisted, or encouraged the person to commit suicide, without actually performing the act that caused the death, the result is not as clear.

Courts have held that the defendant may be convicted of murder or manslaughter, or for assisting suicide (cases in Arkansas, California, Kentucky, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Texas, for example).

The Netherlands is the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia, giving terminally ill patients the right to end their lives.

As a result, doctors no longer face prosecution for carrying out "mercy killings" if they are performed with due care.

Strict conditions apply, with regional review committees made up of legal, medical, and ethical

A second medical opinion is needed and the patient's suffering must be found to be unbearable.

Where there is doubt after this process, the case is referred to the public prosecutor.

The lower house of the Dutch Parliament passed the legislation in later 2000, the upper house in April 2001, and it took effect on January 1, 2002.

According to the BBC News of January 1, 2001, and other reports, euthanasia has been tolerated for decades in the Netherlands, although in 2001 a court found a physician guilty of malpractice for helping an 86 year old former senator die because "he was tired of living.

Similar tolerance for euthanasia is found in Switzerland, Colombia, and Belgium, although none of these countries has legalized the practice, according to the CBS News of November 28, 2000.

In Canada, a father who murdered his 12-year-old disabled daughter in a "mercy killing" was sentenced to at least 10 years in jail, according to a 2001 Canadian Supreme Court decision.

The court refused to overturn the country's mandatory sentence for second-degree murder of life imprisonment with no parole for 10 years, rejecting arguments that prison time constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

In arguments before the court, the father's lawyers tried to argue the defense of "compassionate homicide" in Canadian law, insisting that his daughter was in such pain that her father "believed he had no reasonable alternative but to kill his daughter.

From a search of The Catechism of the Catholic Church (first 40 references on life

2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

336 From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.

2367 Called to give life, spouses share in the creative power and fatherhood of God. "Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters. They will fulfill this duty with a sense of human and Christian responsibility."

1524 In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of "passing over" to the Father, has a particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father.

» Enter the CCC at this paragraph

2273 The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation:

"The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death."

"The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection which civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of each citizen, and in particular of the more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined. . . . As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of the child's rights."

2288 Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.

Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance.

1007 Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment:

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, . . . before the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

1641 "By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God." This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple's love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children."

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July 9, 2003		2003-R-0515
ASSISTED SUICIDE

By: John Kasprak, Senior Attorney