From “Natural Death” to “Aid-in-Dying”: Reflections on the American Judicial Experience (IN: Euthanasia: the Good of the Patient, the Good of Society, ed. by R I Misbin)

This chapter briefly reviews developments in American law in the post-Quinlan era & uses them to analyze the potential long-range impact of prosposals such as Initiative 119. The primary thesis – that, once legalized, active euthanasia cannot be limited to competent, profoundly suffering patients with a terminal illness – proceeds from the fundamental principles established in Quinlan & its progeny. The section following the introduction explores the judicial origins of these principles. The final section presents a derivative thesis: that the text of Washington Initiative 119 is virtually an invitation to immediate & wide expansion of the euthanasia license. (25 refs.)