Washington v. Glucksberg and the physician-assisted suicide debate

¶ … Washington v. Glucksberg (1997), the Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide. This ruling presented ethical challenges for the criminal justice system, especially with the high-profile trial of Jack Kevorkian, who was tried for assisting in a patient's suicide. Kevorkian was found guilty in 1999, but since then, social issues and mores have changed, and there is new discussion about what should be viewed as legal, ethical and allowed in the 21st century. For example, if a person wants to die, should he or she not have the right to commit suicide? According to the Supreme Court, there is no historical precedent for approving or condoning the purposeful taking of one's life and physicians are supposed to help save life not end it. However, if the definition of what it means to be a physician and provide care changes over time, then the case for euthanasia could also change -- and the criminal justice system would have to re-orient the way in which it approaches life, death and the role of doctors with regard to patients.