Cruzan Vs. Missouri Assisted Suicide Case Study

“As illustrated in in the case Cruzan v. Missouri, implementing assisted suicide would give the terminally ill and suffering patients the chance to die with dignity.” The cases involving death have always been controversial. As the life expectancy began increasing and people began dying in hospitals, the controversy over right to die and assisted suicide came into place. This is when Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health 1990 came into limelight and became a hot topic for the next decade or so because their is no law backing up this case. “The war started when twenty- five year Nancy Beth Cruzan lost control of her car on an icy Missouri Road in January of 1983”( Cruzan v. Director of Missouri Health Department 1990, Pg 2). The accident left her into a ‘permanent vegetative state’. She wasn't able to speak or respond. The doctors described her state as persistent vegetative state where she is not able to respond. She was in this state because of lack of oxygen for a while after the accident which damaged few of her …show more content…
They wanted to free their daughter from this intolerable suffering.“The quest for legally sanctioned right to die has also arisen from the anguish of patients afflicted with other immobilizing disabilities such as terminal diseases” ( Cruzan v. Missouri: The Right to Die by Lila Perl, Pg 10). The case also involved the medical profession, in charge for saving our lives not taking it away. This was the first time when the court gave its ruling on the issue of right to die and assisted suicide, which made it an high profile case. It involved the issue of death, which affected every aspect of the society, whether on religious grounds or on the professional front, every person was involved and was equally