redress of grievances." The Fourteenth Amendment states, "The State cannot deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The group believes that a terminally ill patient has the Constitutional right to decide whether or not to end his or her life with

the help of a licensed medical doctor. There have been many cases over the years where a terminally ill patient who is mentally competent has made the choice to either partake in physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.

"Physician-assisted suicide occurs when the physician provides the patient with the means and/or knowledge to commit suicide"(Death and Dying,91). "Euthanasia is when the physician administers the death causi

"Measure 16" may now be anticipated to prevent the law from being used"(http://www.rights.org/deathnet/open. html). In June, 1990, the Supreme Court decided that the parents of 32 year old Nancy Beth Cruzan, who had been in a car accident and in what Doctor's called a vegetative state for seven years, could not end her treatment. Later that same year, a Missouri Court ruled that the feeding tube could be removed after evidence that Cruzan would wish to terminate the treatment was proven. "Nancy Beth Cruzan died twelve days later"(Death and Dying,26).

ng drug or agent"(Death and Dying,92). The most recent case is that of The State of Florida v. Charles Hall. "Charles Hall is dying of AIDS and challenged the State of Florida to let him die by a self-administered lethal injection without fear of prosecution"(http://www.rights.org/ deathnet/open.html). On January 31, 1997, a Judge ruled that Charles Hall could take his own life with the aid of a doctor. Senior Judge S. Joseph Davis, brought in from Seminole County, "found that Florida's strict privacy law and the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution entitled Hall,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Fourteenth Amendment, Charles Hall, Dignity Act, Supreme Court, United America, , Beth Cruzan, Seminole County, Missouri Court, Dr McIver, terminally ill, charles hall, mentally competent, fourteenth amendment, own life, physician-assisted suicide, terminally ill patient, supreme court, measure 16, die government, life liberty property, blood transfusion, due process law, liberty property due, property due process,
Approximate Word count = 762
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)