Physician Assisted Suicide and American Federalism essays

Physician Assisted Suicide and American Federalism essays According to Brian Bix, law is most often considered with deciding who gets to decide cases. In Americas political system, this question is often distinguished. Much controversy and debate is focused on federalism. At what level should decisions be made, (individual, municipal, state or federal) and which sort of government should decide? This question of who decides is called federalism. The United States is a federal community with powers separated between the federal government and other governments below the federal government, in example, the states. Americas federalist system has valid, yet controversial policies for the way issues are considered in the country. Physician-assisted suicide is just one of them (1). According to Kathryn Tucker, attorney for the respondents in the Washington vs. Glucksberg case, this case presents the question, whether the 14th Amendments guarantee of liberty protects the decision of mentally competent terminally ill adults to bring about impending death in a certain, humane, and dignified matter? (2) It also asks the question, whether a state denies equal protection when it permits terminally ill patients equal protection when it permits terminally ill patients who are on life support to a humane death with medical assistance but prohibits terminally ill patients who are not on life support to exercising the same right by self-administering medication prescribed for that purpose? (Tucker 2) Does the Supreme Court have the powers delegated to them in the United States Constitution to agree or disagree with this issue or is this a case where it is left up to the state to decide? No, they do not. The Court uses the Commerce Clause to show that this case is a federalist issue, but it does not withhold the issues to which the decision is based on. Washington vs. Glucksberg is a judicial case where the court considered the constitutionality of Washington&ap...