Health Law Keyed to Furrow
Washington v. Glucksberg
Facts
Glucksberg (Plaintiff) sued the state of Washington (Defendant), claiming that its prohibition against causing or aiding a suicide was an offense to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Plaintiff asserted the existence of a liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment that extends to a personal choice by a mentally competent, terminally ill adult to commit physician-assisted suicide. The district court agreed, and concluded that the statute was unconstitutional as it placed an undue burden on the exercise of that constitutionally protected interest. A panel of the court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. The Ninth Circuit heard the case en banc again, reversed the panel's decision, and affirmed the district court. The court decided that the statute was unconstitutional as applied to competent adults who are terminally ill and wish to bring upon death sooner by using medication prescribed by their doctor. Certiorari was granted by the United States Supreme Court.
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