existence in bed, she later chose not to have the feeding tube removed. She chose to continue her life once she knew she had control over it. If a person's life has deteriorated to misery and meaninglessness, no government or medical facility or doctor should force a person to go on living. The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld the right of individuals to refuse life sustaining treatment. There seems to be very little difference between the right to refuse treatment and the right to obtain medication to end life. With regulations and guidelines for assisted suicide, dying patients can have the ability to decide how they handle their suffering.

As Stephen Jamison, a former regional director of the Hemlock Society states, "If assisted dying were legally available as an extraordinary option under strict rules, and patients knew that if they were suffering their issues of pain and dignity would be addressed, then public fear of the dying process might lessen and trust in physicians might consequently increase" (Jamison 114). With this a lot more people will be open to thinking of assisted suicide as a way of leaving this world.

Physician assisted suicide is a compassionate way to end a person's suffering and it should not be criminalized. In 1997, the Supreme Court upheld two state laws that barred assisted suicide. The court ruled that the Constitution did not guarantee an individual's "right to die". These two cases, Vacco v. Quill and Washington v.Glucksberg, were upheld and gave state's the right to make assisted suicide illegal. But, even more significant, the Supreme court implied that states could legalize assisted suicide if they so chose (Issues and Controversies: Assisted Suicide Update n.p.). In regards to these rulings, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said that "Americans will engage in a debate about the morality, legality, and practicality of physician-assisted suicide" and that the Court's ruling will permit "this debate to continue, as it should in a democratic society" (Rehnquist 88). The debate did continue and in November 1994, Oregon became the first state to make assisted suicide legal. Oregon's Death with Dignity law allows doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to terminally ill patients who meet certain qualifications. The law was blocked in courts for three long years. Then in October 1997, by refusing to hear a case brought by groups challenging the Oregon law's constitutionality, the Supreme Court effectively upheld the law. Then on November 4,1997, the voters rejected a ballot to repel the law by a vote of 60% to 40% (Issue and Controversies: Assisted Suicide Update n.p.). Assisted suicide became legal in

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1805
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)