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Previous Volume 335:663-667 August 29, 1996 Number 9 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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With the enactment of an Oregon statute permitting physician-assisted suicide,^1,2 the recognition of a constitutional right to assisted suicide by two U.S. courts of appeals,^3,4 discussed elsewhere in this issue of the Journal,⁵ and the acquittals of Dr. Jack Kevorkian,^6,7 there appears to be a dramatic shift in right-to-die law. Although the law previously distinguished between the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and assisted suicide, these recent events suggest that the distinction is being abandoned and that the law is undergoing a profound change.

I will argue here that this interpretation is mistaken. Instead of a shift in the law, these . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Arguments for the Distinction between Assisted Suicide and the Withdrawal of Treatment

The Real Basis for the Legal Distinction

Why the Law is Changing

Address reprint requests to Dr. David Orentlicher at the Center for Law and Health, Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis, 735 W. New York St., Indianapolis, IN 46202-5194.

References

Related Letters:

Physician-Assisted Suicide
Sembrot W. B., Corboy J. R., Swanson H. J., Gates T. J., Girsh F., Leff A. S., Kopp V. J., Preston T. A., Orentlicher D., Annas G. J.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1997; 336:439-441, Feb 6, 1997. Correspondence

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