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Constitutional Law Keyed to Shanor
Washington v. Glucksberg
Citation:
521 U.S. 702 (1997)Facts
In 1994, four Washington physicians who treated terminally ill patients, along with three terminally ill patients (who subsequently died during litigation) and a nonprofit organization called Compassion in Dying, challenged Washington’s law that made it a felony to knowingly aid another person in attempting suicide. The physicians claimed they would assist patients in ending their lives if not for the state ban. The plaintiffs argued that the statute violated the Due Process Clause by infringing on a liberty interest of terminally ill, competent adults to choose how to end their lives. Washington’s law had prohibited assisted suicide since 1854, though like many states, it had decriminalized suicide itself. At the same time, Washington permitted withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment under its Natural Death Act. The challenge came amid a national debate about physician-assisted suicide, with voters in Oregon having recently approved a ballot initiative legalizing the practice.
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