''The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia'' is a 2006 book by

Neil Gorsuch Neil McGill Gorsuch ( ; born August 29, 1967) is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court ...

. The book presents legal and moral arguments against

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

and

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

, advocating for the retention of bans on the practices. It explores case histories from jurisdictions that have legalized the practice, including

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. ''The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia'' grew out of Gorsuch's doctoral dissertation. While attending

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, he studied legal and ethical issues related to assisted suicide and euthanasia under

John Finnis John Mitchell Finnis (born 28 July 1940) is an Australian legal philosopher and jurist specializing in jurisprudence and the philosophy of law. He is an original interpreter of Aristotle and Aquinas, and counts Germain Grisez as a major inf ...

, an Australian legal scholar opposed to assisted suicide.

In ''The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia'', Gorsuch treats

physician-assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

and

as morally identical acts. The scope of the book is limited to intentional killing by private persons, avoiding the complexities of considering the issue alongside the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and warfare. In the book, Gorsuch rejects commonly held views about autonomy, arguing that states should sometimes place "paternalistic constraints on the choices of its citizens." He sharply criticizes Judge

Richard Posner Richard Allen Posner (; born January 11, 1939) is an American legal scholar and retired United States circuit judge who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017. A senior lecturer at the University of Chicag ...

of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, who wrote that government should not interfere with a person's decision to end their life. Gorsuch argues that Posner's view could require the legalization of consensual homicide and would lead to mass suicide pacts,

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

s, and organ sales. Gorsuch further characterized assisted suicide as, "essentially a right to consensual homicide." He said that the U.S. should "retain existing law anning assisted suicide and euthanasiaon the basis that human life is fundamentally and inherently valuable, and that the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong."

Accusation of plagiarism

On April 4, 2017,

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

and ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'' ran articles highlighting similar language occurring in ''The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia'' and an earlier law review article by Abigail Lawlis Kuzma,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

's deputy

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. Academic experts contacted by ''Politico'' "differed in their assessment of what Gorsuch did, ranging from calling it a clear impropriety to mere sloppiness."Bryan Logan (April 4, 2016
Neil Gorsuch is accused of plagiarism amid a heated Supreme Court confirmation fight
businessinsider.com; accessed April 15, 2017. Gorsuch's advisor at Oxford, John Finnis, stated, "The allegation is entirely without foundation. The book is meticulous in its citation of primary sources. The allegation that the book is guilty of plagiarism because it does not cite secondary sources which draw on those same primary sources is, frankly, absurd." Kuzma stated, "I have reviewed both passages and do not see an issue here, even though the language is similar. These passages are factual, not analytical in nature, framing both the technical legal and medical circumstances of the ' Baby/Infant Doe' case that occurred in 1982."

Noah Feldman Noah Raam Feldman (born May 22, 1970) is an American legal scholar and academic. He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the author of 10 books, host of the podcas ...

, a Harvard Law professor, thought that Gorsuch had committed "minor plagiarism" that deserved "no more punishment than the embarrassment attendant on its revelation."

References

External links

Full text of "The right to receive assistance in suicide and euthanasia, with particular reference to the law of the United States"
(Doctoral dissertation), Oxford Research Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, The 2006 non-fiction books Assisted suicide Books about suicide Euthanasia law Books involved in plagiarism controversies Princeton University Press books

Contents

Accusation of plagiarism

See also

References

External links