Physician-Assisted Suicide: Rights and Risks to Vulnerable Communities

Authors

Benjamin C. Zipursky, Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law. B.A. 1982, Swarthmore College; Ph.D. (Philosophy) 1987, University of Pittsburgh; J.D. 1991, New York University.Follow

Abstract

In this Introduction, the author discusses the recent Supreme Court decisions Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill. On one hand, several panel contributors hold the position that one should have the right to control one’s own death, which is rooted in autonomy, liberty, and equality. Scholarly voices on the other side of the debate, including four panel members, believe that the legalization of physician-assisted suicide would create intolerable risks, particularly to those in the community who are the most vulnerable: the poor, the elderly, and the mentally and physically disabled.

Recommended Citation

Benjamin C. Zipursky, Physician-Assisted Suicide: Rights and Risks to Vulnerable Communities, 24 Fordham Urb. L.J. 777 (1997).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol24/iss4/11