Rights and the Political Process: Physician-Assisted Suicide in the Aftermath of Washington v. Glucksberg

Abstract

Although scholars have been concerned over the last several decades with assessing the relative consequences of relying on the political and judicial processes for resolving rights claims, most of these studies have analyzed cases in which rights have been secured through the judicial process. This paper takes a different approach and analyzes the consequences of Washington v. Glucksberg (1997), in which the U.S. Supreme Court deferred the issue of physician-assisted suicide to the states 'political processes, at least for the present time. This study seeks to determine, through an analysis of state developments in the two-year period following the Glucksberg decision, the extent to which the various hypothesized advantages of resolving rights claims through the political process have been realized. It is reasonable to conclude that Glucksberg has generally had the effect of enhancing democratic deliberation, securing representation of relevant interests, and providing opportunities for policy experimentation in various states.