Drawing a Line Between Killing and Letting Die: The Law, and Law Reform, on Medically Assisted Dying
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1993
Abstract
Traditional medical ethics and law draw a sharp distinction between allowing a patient to die and helping her die. Withholding or withdrawing life sustaining treatment, such as by abating technological nutrition, hydration or respiration, will cause death as surely as a lethal injection. The former, however, is a constitutional right for a competent or once-competent patient, while the latter poses a risk of serious criminal or civil liability for the physician, even if the patient requests it.
Publication Citation
21 J.L. Med. & Ethics 94-101 (1993)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Gostin, Lawrence O., "Drawing a Line Between Killing and Letting Die: The Law, and Law Reform, on Medically Assisted Dying" (1993). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 757.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/757