Renewed compassion for the dying in Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington.

Religion-based arguments in the public arena: a Catholic perspective on euthanasia, Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington and Quill v. Vacco.

Physician-assisted suicide: new protocol for a rightful death.

concepts not specifically rooted in the Constitution. However, in finding that the New York statutes violate the Equal Protection Clause, the Second Circuit itself seems to expand upon the meaning of "similarly circumstanced," positing a specific meaning to the phrase which cannot necessarily be proven. These two appellate decisions, Compassion in Dying v. Washington and Quill v. Vacco, clearly...

Seeking compassion in dying: the Washington State law against assisted suicide.

In May of 1994, federal district Judge Barbara Rothstein ruled in Compassion in Dying v. Washington' that certain terminally-ill adults have a constitutional right to commit physician-assisted suicide. Six months later, Oregon voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative allowing certain terminally-ill adults to obtain physicians' prescriptions for lethal drugs.2 These parallel legal actions mo...

The Ninth Circuit Court's treatment of the history of suicide by Ancient Jews and Christians in Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington: historical naivete or special pleading?

In this article, Prof. Darrel Amundsen critiques Judge Reinhardt's comments regarding "Historical Attitudes Toward Suicide" in his Compassion in Dying opinion. Amundsen demonstrates that the court's characterization of ancient Jewish and Christian practices is inaccurate and misleading because it fails to acknowledge the complexities of the moral issue of suicide. Amundsen discusses martyrdom, ...

Impact of a contemplative end-of-life training program: being with dying.

OBJECTIVE Health care professionals report a lack of skills in the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of caring for dying people and high levels of moral distress, grief, and burnout. To address these concerns, the "Being with Dying: Professional Training Program in Contemplative End-of-Life Care" (BWD) was created. The premise of BWD, which is based on the development of mindfulness and recept...