USA: COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS ABOUT DOCTOR AIDED SUICIDE скачать в хорошем качестве

USA: COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS ABOUT DOCTOR AIDED SUICIDE

(8 Jan 1997) English/Nat It's one of the most closely-watched cases in the U-S in years. The Supreme Court Wednesday heard arguments on whether states may ban doctor- assisted suicide. Most justices expressed doubt there is a right to assisted suicide. It's an emotional issue with no easy answer. Americans remain deeply divided on the question whether doctors should be legally allowed to help a patient die. That division was extremely apparent outside the U-S Supreme Court Wednesday, as hundreds of people from both sides of the argument came out to voice their opinions. At issue are two appeals that could be the most closely watched Supreme Court cases since 1992, when justices reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion. The cases at hand raise similar questions about an individual's right to control his or her own body. If the Supreme Court lets the lower decisions stand, doctors will be legally allowed to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally-ill patients. Euthanasia, or the administration of a lethal drug by a doctor, would still be illegal. Opponents of assisted suicide believe that in the era of managed care, poor or severely disabled patients would be pressured into suicide and would not be fully informed of other options. New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco argued before the Court Wednesday that his state's law should be reinstated and that physician-assisted suicide should be banned. SOUNDBITE: "We're going to affect the trust that exists between physicians and patients, but we're also going to affect the way we deliver our medical treatments now in this society. Simply put, it is cheaper to kill than it is to treat." SUPER CAPTION: Dennis Vacco, Attorney General of New York But lawyers challenging the New York law say the terminally-ill have a right to decide when the pain is too much and have the right to die with dignity. SOUNDBITE: "It is right when you are dying not to suffer unbearable agony any more than you can take it and then not to have to choose between agony and totally unconsciousness. It's the right to dignity in the process of dying." SUPER CAPTION: Lawrence Tribe, attorney challenging New York law Those who oppose doctor-assisted suicide say the real issue is that the American medical system is not properly caring for terminally-ill patients. They say instead of offering the option of suicide, doctors should provide patients with more pain-management options and a better quality of life. But supporters of a constitutional right to assisted suicide say such assistance would only be an option in extreme cases, when all other methods of relief have failed. As in the case of this man, who is terminally ill with Lou Gehrig's disease, an illness that eventually leads to complete paralysis. Because of his disease, Noel Earley can no longer move or talk, and can hardly breathe. No medication exists that can help him. Noel has publicly proclaimed that he will commit suicide, because he says no one should have to suffer like this. SOUNDBITE: "We have a right to end the disease that is assaulting our independence and our dignity in the absence of medical intervention." SUPER CAPTION: Noel Earley, terminally ill patient Opponents of assisted suicide say if the practice is legalised, it would be available even to terminally ill people who are not in severe pain. The American Medical Association -- which wrote a brief for the Supreme Court opposing physician-assisted suicide -- says too many people would die premature deaths if the practice were legalised. SOUNDBITE: Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...