Washington law provides, ‘A person is guilty of promoting a suicide attempt when he knowingly causes or aids another person to attempt suicide.’ Wash. Rev. Code 9A.36.060(1) (1994). ‘Promoting a suicide attempt is a felony, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine.’ Sec. 9A.36.060(2) and 9A.20.021(1)(c).
4.
N Y Penal Law Sec. 125.15 (McKinney 1987) (‘Manslaughter in the second degree’) provides, ‘A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when … (3) He intentionally causes or aids another person to commit suicide. Manslaughter in the second degree is a class C felony.’ Section 120.30 (‘promoting a suicide attempt’) states, ‘A person is guilty of promoting a suicide attempt when he intentionally causes or aids another person to attempt suicide. Promoting a suicide is a class E felony.’.
5.
The full cite of the New York case is Quill v. Koppell (SDNY 1994) 870 F. Supp. 78, rev'd (2d Cir. 1996) 80 F.3d 716, rev'd sub nom Vacco v. Quill (S. Ct. June 26, 1997) Slip Op. No. 95-1858. The full cite of the Washington case is Compassion in Dying v. Washington (WD Wash. 1994) 850 F. Supp. 1454, rev'd (9th Cir. 1995) 49 F.3d 586, rev'd en banc (9th Cir. 1996) 79 F.3d 790, rev'd sub. nom (S. Ct. June 26, 1997) Washington v. Glucksberg (Slip Op. No. 96-110). [Compassion in Dying is a non-profit groups that assists terminally-ill people who wish to hasten their death; it was dismissed for lack of standing and did not proceed to the US Supreme Court.].
6.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, adopted in 1868, provides, in relevant part: ‘No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or Property, without due Process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal Protection of the laws.’.
7.
Compassion in Dying v. Washington (WashW.D.. 1994) 850 F. Supp. 1454.
8.
Quill v. Koppell (SDNY 1994) 870 F. Supp. 78.
9.
Quill v. Koppell (2d Cir. 1996) 80 F.3d 716.
10.
The Second Circuit agreed with the New York district court that there was no substantive right to assisted suicide under the Due Process Clause. The Second Circuit wrote, ‘The right to assisted suicide finds no cognizable basis in the Constitution's language or design, even in the very limited cases of those competent persons who, in the final stages of a terminal illness, seek the right to hasten death. We therefore decline the plaintiffs’ invitation to identify a new fundamental right, in the absence of a clear direction from the Court whose precedents we are bound to follow.’ Id.
11.
Quill v. Koppell (2d Cir. 1996) 80 F.3d 716.
12.
Compassion in Dying v. Washington (9th Cir. 1995) 49 F.3d 586.
13.
Compassion in Dying v. Washington (9th Cir. 1995) 62 F.3d 299.
14.
Compassion in Dying v. Washington (9th Cir. 1996) 79 F.3d 790.
15.
(S.Ct. 1992) 505 U.S. 833. Casey upheld a woman's right to have an abortion in language that supported a right to autonomy in highly personal decisions.
16.
(S.Ct. 190) 497 U.S. 261. In Cruzan, the parents of a woman in a persistent vegetative state obtained a court order to withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration. The US Supreme Court ruled that, ‘The principle that a competent person has a constitutionally protected liberty interest in refusing unwanted medical treatment may be inferred from our prior decisions.’ Id. at 278.
17.
Compassion in Dying v. Washington (9th Cir. 1996) 79 F.3d 790.
18.
S.Ct. Slip Op., No. 96-110, June 26, 1997.
19.
American Law Institute, Model Penal Code, Section 210.5, Comment 5, p 100 (Official Draft and Revised Comments 1980).
20.
S.Ct., Slip Op., No. 95-1858, June 26, 1997.
21.
Krischer v. McIver (Fla. S.Ct. July 17, 1997 Case no. 89,837).
