The legalization of physician-assisted suicide.

Abstract

With the enactment of an Oregon statute permitting physician-assisted suicide,1,2 the recognition of a constitutional right to assisted suicide by two U.S. courts of appeals,3,4 discussed elsewhere in this issue of the Journal, 5 and the acquittals of Dr. Jack Kevorkian,6,7 there appears to be a dramatic shift in right-to-die law. Although the law previously distinguished between the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and assisted suicide, these recent events suggest that the distinction is being abandoned and that the law is undergoing a profound change.I will argue here that this interpretation is mistaken. Instead of a shift in . . .