courts%~d the ge%i&l pu& iime intemion~",~~hearabie pain, `::Y..: + i ::
Surgeon Ceneraf'C;`Rverett Koop has',&& ~`respirator, m%ponents of euth&asia stressed
no trouble getting press attention for his









                                                   ' `.
                 ' : that they wanted death to be mercifully has?






al killing, by on&&on or diiv&@tion, of those
refusal to engage in euphemi&stith regGd- : t&red only4vhen it was voluntary, when `the
to curbing the spread of AIDSHe has`been, -a' patient was sufferingunbearable pain and was




               +,: nor, though incurable, was she.&.& to death.
whose lives are cons&red &&fficient.vaab;. :i`bqf. fn 1985i a court went further in expanding
less successful in,makihg th$c@enry awar&4rear death. Karen Ann Quinlan could not make
of another of hii&occup&ons `ur wtiich he:!` any decisions




ue to maintain," The'surg@6g&eral..means. ;::the power to.. let someone else die. Claire
euthanasia-passive?and "&tive+for.- those.> &onroy, a- nursing home patient, FIS ,,senile
                                              `:!.- ;.







who are~"biologically `temidieu~f& that they                    I








.$do not die wjthin-sn Acceptable, time frames as,.
also disdaiia `newspeak      *' -' `P:,TL'.fir herselfi I' :. ._) '






                 ,-ibut capable of shofing pleasure while receiv-
              `4ng car& smihng during a back rub, for:&
                                              I'
                           , I.. 1
In lectures and&i&s, Dr.Koop has been ::-:wzis not -sitf-
warning of the i&easing acceptance -by the :`>fering    9 W E E T  L A N J)
                                         un-  a'

ruled for the first time that a feeding tube
' could be considered optional treatment and be
removed from patients under certain circum-
`Stan&s. I          
:`I `Since then, there have'beea other cases in
       .,,`.i
        :       / j which judges
.                    i  have decided

determined by theirfamilies ol"so6iety.Y (. .l_. .._, . .&ance. ' r.::.,$-;      `;8.     
Another critic.of the burgeoniujg "right-to-., `.L: A relative wanted to remove' her feeding
die" movement is ,Hniversity of Michigan. law,! z-i tube, but the eiderly lady died whjle the Case
professor Yale Kamisar; an expert on cOtiⅈ _ was still going up the..judicial ladder. Since ,it
tional law `with spe;c@ `focus on the due.,pr& :_ ,&rcemed an important issue,. the New Jersey
cess proteciionsoff'the Fourth Amend$$t' `,~~~~~u~re~Court considered the csse anyway. It
Kamisar pintao#t@$,hefqre4he~97~~$u$ $&rd'impt$6 a number of safeguards regardiig
+&ion discori~Ka&FA& Qum n 8' euthanasu~, but, Kannsar notes, .the `c@ut

  . . . :.         I' .!' :`ciotis pa-
" tieids, ihi&h not in acute &II or near death,
-have stayed too `long. In New Jersey, Nancy
Ellen Jobes, allegedly in a @&tent vegeta-
trve state, was examined by Dr. AUan Ropper,
professor- of neurology at Harvard Medical
School, who `found that she could perform
certain movements requested of her and show  .
resultant satisfaction. The judge, however,
preferred to go with contrary testimony and
ruled that she be denied food and water. The
`case is now before the Neti Jersey Supreme
,&u& ."`I
0 F









              -,;:
`Another current ca& &Id mark a signifi-
   L.1 B E R T Y that biologi-









cant breakthrough for partisans of eut$asii.
                callv tena-


In Arisona, 79-year-old Mildred Rasmu.&ed~ `+ `, If tiis. i&y: of termhta*S' the liiilogicaily
diagnosed as in "a chronic vegetative state;' k iA ii approved by the ArizonaSupreme
responded to painful stimuli, could swallow on
                             ,. ) ), . ..~~.~@rt. ihese~decisions by those on the list will
her own and according to some testjmony was, ,,,~;~~&&ceforth `be vhtuahy wjthout any further
S~OfherSunOundiags.Although~~~~.~'j;l;iiciaI~~and~~~.~tdue
of complications following pneumonia in 1986, iA
hercasehasacquiredalifeofitsown,~~.c., -~meprivatized~ ,,, ::3.,,i !>:, : +
                2. plmcek The power to end` life witl have
ithascontinuedtoexpGlnditsboundarie9~~~~... !-.
At one point, the Arizona intermediate :' `": 5: .me * SUpreme && .a &J a>n-
~~ofAppeals~~t~if&`$&Jlt ~.~siderwhetherthisprMisationofeu&uka
were not terminally ill, life-saving treatment y; should he extended beyond patients in comas
(mcluding food and fluids) could be discontin- Cto any @tient-regarded by physicians as %I-
ued under certain conditions: the attendhrg `.,competent or +apacitakL~ Accordingiy, a
physician .would have' to determine that the .: :*.number ofla@med disabilityr@hm organ&
patient LJ comatd and KS conG%a $.IFT+$ tions have .entixed the case. whey ee the
able and irreversible.           __.. f *,A..
When this situation exists, those en~&&`~";~ j'. possibiity of people bemg dispatched hecause
                 ,thei are. inentally retarded or otherwise de-
ered by the courts to tell the physician that he .. fenseless~ T        '
can let the person die constitute a consider- ,.i                            
able list-ranging from, among others,' a . . I _ L "A few years ago," Kamisar observes, "pea-
spouse' to an adult child to a majority. vote of 1,. ! $e would have been astounded at the idea of
the adult children to the nearest living relative i,removing: food and water from a patient." But
of the patient; .and if. none of the, above is, * ~ ,how that way to death has the imprimatllr of
available, the attend@ physician haa the vote. `the An&can Medical w.tior~