{
  "id": "97-244",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "97-244",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 308163,
      "date": "2005-09-19",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:31:23.672029",
      "title": "The \"Right to Die\": Constitutional and Statutory Analysis",
      "summary": "In the spring of 2005, national attention was drawn to a series of court and legislative actions\nregarding the withdrawal of nutrition and hydration from a Florida patient, Theresa Schiavo, who\nhad suffered severe brain damage. For a summary of relevant factual and legal events surrounding\nthis case, see  http://www.miami.edu/ethics2/schiavo/timeline.htm  and  CRS Report RL32830(pdf) ,\n The\nSchiavo Case: Legal Issues . This case brought new scrutiny to the \u201cright to die\u201d\nissue. Although the\npopular term \u201cright to die\u201d has been used as a label to describe the current political\ndebate over\nend-of-life decisions, the underlying issues include a variety of legal concepts, including, suicide,\npassive euthanasia (allowing a person to die by refusal or withdrawal of medical intervention),\nassisted suicide (providing a person the means of committing suicide), active euthanasia (killing\nanother), and palliative care (providing comfort care which accelerates the death process). \n \n Exercising one or another of these \u201crights to die\u201d may have drastically different\nlegal\nconsequences: some currently have no legal consequence, some are a violation of common-law,\nsome are a violation of statute, some may have contractual consequences, some may result in an\naction such as civil confinement, some are currently protected by legislation, and some may be\nprotected by the United States Constitution. This report examines the legal status of the five distinct\nissues: 1) suicide, 2) passive euthanasia, 3) assisted suicide, 4) active euthanasia, and 5)palliative\ncare. \n \n The report examines the history of how each of these issues has been treated and evaluates the\nconstitutional right of a person to pursue these courses of action. It addresses state law regarding\nliving wills, advance medical directives, and how these types of decisions are made regarding\npersons who have left neither. The report addresses congressional powers and existing federal\nstatutes that are implicated in these issues, such as the Patient Self-Determination Act, the Assisted\nSuicide Funding Restriction Act, and the Controlled Substances Act. It then addresses bills\nintroduced in the 109th Congress,  S. 539  and  H.R. 1151 , both entitled the\n\u201cIncapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act of 2005;\u201d a bill passed by the House,\n H.R. 1332 , \u201cThe Protection of Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005;\u201d a bill passed by the\nSenate, \u201cFor the\nRelief of the Parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo;\u201d and a similar bill passed by the House and\nSenate,\n S. 686 . This last bill was signed by the President and became  P.L. 109-3 .\n \n The report notes that current state regulations prohibiting assisted suicide have been upheld by\nthe Supreme Court, and that similar prohibitions against active euthanasia are likely to be upheld\nagainst constitutional challenge. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, however,\nappears to limit a state\u2019s ability to regulate passive euthanasia (termination of medical\ntreatment). \nFinally, palliative care may ultimately be found to be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, but\nthe possible abuse of such care may raise policy concerns.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc806204/",
      "id": "97-244_2003Dec21",
      "date": "2003-12-21",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "The Right to Die: Constitutional and Statutory Analysis",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions"
  ]
}