The Star has asked if there is a constitutional right to die. But framing the issue in that way is misleading. There is no enumerated right to die. just as there Is no right to hold particular religious beliefs or to marry outside one’s race or to join a political action group.
The Star has asked if there is a constitutional right to die. But framing the issue in that way is misleading. There is no enumerated right to die. just as there Is no right to hold particular religious beliefs or to marry outside one’s race or to join a political action group.
The real question is whether these decisions and others like them are decisions individuals have a right to make free of government interference. To put it another way, when and under what circumstances is government entitled to overrule a personal decision made by an otherwise competent adult?
The Bill of Rights severely Iimits what government is permitted to do. even when authorized by majority vote. The underlying value is individual autonomy –:- a belief that citizens must be free to decide matters of conscience for themselves, that personal decisions will be respected whether or not others agree with them, unless those decisions cause harm to others.
If I should become terminally Ill. I do not want to be kept alive by extraordinary means. If I fall into a persistent vegetative state. I emphatically do not want to be maintained by artificial nutrition and hydration. If I were suffering horribly, I would want compassionate medical assistance in hastening my death. Those are my desires. Someone else may want something very different. We each have a right to expect our instructions will be honored.
Government has a legitimate interest In assuring that we have arrived at our decisions knowingly, voluntarily and free of external coercion. It has no interest in countermanding our expressed instructions. In our system. I am not required to justify my actions or beliefs; rather. government is required to justify attempts to circurnscribe my actions or interfere with my beliefs.
I do not need to prove that I have a constitutional right to determine how I shall die. Government must prove that I don’t.