Thursday, June 14, 2012

Assisted dying assignment

When you are given an assisted dying assignmentyou are most likely being asked to give your contribution to the controversial debate that surrounds the issue of assisted dying. The US Supreme court in 1997ruled that individuals do not have the right within the US constitution to assisted dying. This ruling reversed two previous rulings that had allowed individuals to their requests for assisted dying honored by physicians. Even though the Supreme Court seemed to have overturned the decisions of two smaller courts, this did not mark the end of the assisted dying debate. As the supreme court decision was being read, Justice O’Connor noted that the court had concluded that there exists no generalized right to engage in any form of suicide and also that the constitution has no strict restriction over state laws and as such, there is still a possibility that states could create their own legislations to establish the right to engage in assisted dying. The court also indicated that the legislation that outlawed physician assisted suicide could still be challenged and overturned in future courts. Numerous legal experts who analyzed the decision of the Supreme Court stated that the Supreme Court recognized that the issue of assisted suicide is a very complicated one and that each case of assisted suicide has its own unique circumstances that surround it. In evaluation of each case therefore, each of these issues is to be evaluated separately. Simply put, the Supreme Court shifted the responsibility of making the decision of whether or not to allow assisted suicide to the individual states. It therefore seems like the legal battles surrounding assisted dying will continue.

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