dding terminally ill patients to seek assistance in ending their lives was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the fourteenth amendment. Three years later the state appealed the decision and the law was once again ruled constitutional (AE 267). Why was the law appealed and why haven’t there been more laws created to protect patients and doctors who participate in physician aided suicide? One possible reason is that the law in the 1994 case was not specific enough in terms of who is eligible, what conditions must be present, and punishment for violation of the law. The Netherlands seems to be one step ahead of the United States in this aspect. Recently their parliament made active euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide legal under a set of precise conditions involving nature, condition, consultation, reporting, et al. (AE 268). With a strict set of guidelines, America too could prevent the suffering of thousands of people affected with terminal illnesses and their families. Utilitarians, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, believe that in many situations the letter of the law is often a serious impediment to social progress (AE 232). As time has proved, a societies ideals and principles are usually reflected in the views of its well-regarded moralists and philosophers. All people would in fact agree that killing under any circumstances is immoral and under this assumption many people will take a prima facia stance on euthanasia, this happens when a person looks at an issue and makes a decision without taking other factors into consideration. Decisions should not be made according to a standard set of moral rules or laws because all decisions are different and the outcome of them should be closely examined before a decision is reached that could best serve the interest of the majority of the people. According to author Richard Brandt, killing is wrong only if it is an injury to someone, by relieving someoneR...
