Right to Die Legislation Cases

Fermin Flores

The Declaration of Independence gave us the freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now there are some times when these freedoms are placed into the hands of another for example a judge. A policy that brought the attention of Americans in the late 1900’s. Various court cases have been brought about to the public of several people who were in critical conditions and may not make it or could not recover, one of which where a man with locked-in syndrome, which paralyzed one’s muscles and brainstem, wanted to end his life.

The right to die is a case where one chooses to die whether they were told that they had a certain amount of time left to live. Also, if they are in critical danger and someone chooses that choice for that person who can’t do it themselves. Choosing when one must die or live goes against the 14^th amendment which gave every American the full and equal benefits of the laws. Having the choice of choosing whether someone lives or not ties in with abortion. One mother choosing over if a baby should live or not. The right to die is an issue which some still discuss today through if one has a choice or not.

Society today has been leaning more towards helping those who are severely ill and cannot recover to give them the choice of ending it. Back then this was different, Americans and government did not acknowledge the right to die choice. The Supreme Court declared that the constitution did not mentioned “suicide” and plenty of Americans were uncomfortable. (http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/10/right-die). At least 20% of Americans who attend church believe that one must not suffer from a serious condition with irreversible effects. The reason why we think this way is because some may have experienced this first hand or have thought of the feeling of being in critical condition not being able to do almost anything without the help of a machine or someone else. Oregon voters passed a law in 1994 and went into effect into 1997 that gave anyone the option to end their life through medication. This was called the Death-With-Dignity law which allowed mentally competent, terminally ill adults to hasten their end which later Washington and Vermont adopted. (http://www.deathwithdignity.org/access-acts)

In 1983, a woman by the name of Nancy Beth Cruzan was gravely injured from an automobile accident (http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1989/1989_88_1503). She was taken to the hospital where she had to be sustained by artificial feedings. Her parents, whom saw no other possible way of recovery for their daughter, wanted to terminate her life-support system. The hospital declined their attempt without the approval of a judge. The Missouri Supreme Court declared that there had to be “clear and convincing” evidence to which the patient wanted a decision like this to be made. Nancy’s co-workers were brought together by her parents and they all announced that she would not want to be sustained in a disabled condition. The Supreme Court took this as evidence and let Nancy go.

Back in 1975, 21 year old Karen Ann Quinlan collapsed and fell into a coma (http://www.ncll.org/liberty-centers/center-for-life-defense/cld-articles/57-how-the-right-to-die-came-to-america) and was placed into the hospital with a ventilator. She was unable to eat nor breathe on her own to the point where her parents wanted to remove her from the artificial life support. As a hospital’s policy, they denied their request and later was taken into court which they ruled in favor of Ann’s parents. Karen was removed from her ventilator in 1976 but miraculously started breathing on her own again. Choosing the right to die for someone else who is in critical condition will be difficult for the hospital and the family. In order for one to make a life or death choice for someone in critical condition, some requirements must be met: The patient must no longer be competent to make the choice themselves, meaning they have no knowledge of what’s happening. Also, the patient’s conditions must be that he or she cannot recover.

Another case of the right to die, 57 year old Paul Lamb was caught in a car accident 23 years ago which paralyzed him from his neck down. With the help of his daughter and the wife of a previous paralyzed man named Tony (who fought to end his life but the court didn’t allow him) Paul, followed Tony’s legacy, and took his battle to the court just to end up losing on July 30^th, 2013. The court did allow, however, for a third man to appeal for the right to die, but the law did not make it clear whether the doctor or nurse will be prosecuted by the government if they helped in the procedure.

In one of the most recent news, a woman by the name of Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with brain cancer which gave her only six months to live. She thought of ways to give herself and her family the least amount of pain possible. After researching, she found Death-with-Dignity and moved to Oregon, one of five states that allow Death-With-Dignity. (http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/maynard-assisted-suicide-cancer-dignity/) Within the news, she mentioned “I do not want to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms,” she wanted the choice to die in peace and surrounded by her loved ones than to die in pain, alone in a hospital.

One must consider how painful it would be to stay in the bed for the rest of their life due to a serious accident. Letting the people you love the most go with the consent of the judge is one of the most heartbreaking event a relative can experience. In the year 1947, only 37% of the citizens felt that doctors should be legally permitted to end a patient’s life if there was no way for them to get cured. Fast forwarding 55 years later, the government placed the same poll again hoping for different results. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/6265/right-die-dead-rights.aspx) That year, in 2002, 72% of Americans now felt that doctors should help end a patient’s life. Without a doubt, one should cherish every single moment they spend with a certain person like as if it’s the last time you may see them. Whether you think nothing will happen wrong or that they are safe from any harm, live your life out. You don’t know if one may get diagnosed with a serious life-threatening or get attacked until it happens.

With all said, if all of the states decide to adopt the Death with Dignity law, new opportunity will be open to those who are severely ill. This can have two results, one of which will result in new arguments. It will open the gate for those with suicidal thoughts and may think they have a chance to get a law passed to allow those who feel “alone” to end their life. On the other hand, it gives those with severe issues to have their easy, unpainful way out.