Right to Die

The term "right to die" is used to describe the ability of an individual to determine the time and manner of his or her death. The Court has ruled that a mentally competent adult has the right to refuse medical treatment that would unnecessarily prolong life. With the advent of the right-to-die movement in the 1970s, courts and legislatures began to outline the contours of the right to die. The right-to-die movement gained notoriety in 1976 because of two noteworthy events. The US Supreme Court first dealt with the right to die in Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 US 261. In Washington v. Glucksberg 521 US 702, and Vacco v. Quill, 521 US 793, the Court differentiated between refusal of treatment and assisted suicide. The Court concluded that the state had a legitimate interest in affirming the value of life and emphasized again that there was no right to assisted suicide.