Morality Politics of Physician-Assisted Suicide: Comparing Canada and the United States

Abstract

In contrast to the European tendency toward parliamentary enactment of euthanasia reforms, policies on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in both Canada and the United States were promulgated by high court rulings. These rulings were very different, however: the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a constitutional right to assisted-suicide while the Supreme Court of the United States denied that any constitutional right exists. This comparative analysis of public opinion, media coverage, federalism, interest groups, and jurisprudence argues that the key variable explaining these divergent policy outcomes was the one-sided debate over PAS in the United States, while a two-sided debate occurred in Canada.