Assisted Suicide
Assisted Suicide | Arguments Supporting a Constitutional Right to Suicide Are Illogical
About the author: Michael M. Uhlmann is a Washington attorney and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Editor’s Note: On June 26, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not guarantee a “right to die.” However, states are not precluded from passing laws that would establish this right.
Critics of Roe v. Wade have long contended that the principles used to justify abortion would soon or late be used to justify other forms of medical killing such as voluntary and, eventually, involuntary euthanasia....
[The entire page is 4217 words long]
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- Introduction
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Chapter 1
- Chapter 1 Preface
- Assisted Suicide Shows Compassion for the Dying
- Assisted Suicide Is Consistent with Christian Beliefs
- Christian Arguments Against Assisted Suicide Are Misguided
- Allowing Competent People to Commit Suicide Is Ethical
- Physician-Assisted Suicide Undermines Medical Ethics
- Assisted Suicide Distorts the Meaning of Mercy
- Assisted Suicide Violates Christian Beliefs
- Assisted Suicide Violates the Dignity of Patients
- Assisted Suicide Is Not Morally Equivalent to Letting Patients Die
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Chapter 2
- Chapter 2 Preface
- Bans on Assisted Suicide Violate the Fourteenth Amendment
- Assisted Suicide Is an Individual Freedom
- Assisted Suicide Is a Fundamental Constitutional Right
- Assisted Suicide Is the Ultimate Civil Right
- Bans on Assisted Suicide Do Not Violate the Fourteenth Amendment
- Arguments Supporting a Constitutional Right to Suicide Are Illogical
- A Constitutional Right to Assisted Suicide Would Threaten Patients’ Right to Refuse Treatment
- The Supreme Court’s Position on Assisted Suicide Is Valid
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Chapter 3
- Chapter 3 Preface
- Legalized Physician- Assisted Suicide Would Improve Treatment of the Terminally Ill
- Safeguards Can Prevent the Abuse of Physician- Assisted Suicide
- Legalizing Physician- Assisted Suicide Would Not Threaten the Disabled
- Arguments Against Legalizing Physician- Assisted Suicide Are Unconvincing
- Support for Legalized Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Based on Mistaken Notions
- Legalized Physician- Assisted Suicide Would Lead to Abuses
- Legalizing Physician- Assisted Suicide Would Harm Society
- Legalized Physician- Assisted Suicide Would Damage the Physician- Patient Relationship
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Chapter 4
- Chapter 4 Preface
- Assisted Suicide Would Threaten the Nonfatally Ill
- Assisted Suicide Would Threaten the Rights of the Disabled
- Assisted Suicide Would Create an Inhumane Society
- Assisted Suicide Will Be Encouraged for Economic Reasons
- Assisted Suicide Would Respect the Rights of the Terminally Ill
- Assisted Suicide Would Respect the Rights of the Elderly
- Voluntary Euthanasia Would Not Lead to Involuntary Killing
- Some Individuals Have a Duty to Die
- Organizations to Contact
- Bibliography
- Copyright
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