Some Americans believe that the dispute over euthanasia is a legal one; others believe it should be regarded strictly as a moral issue. The fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defends citizenship and civil rights. Within that Amendment is a clause; called the Due Process Clause. It states: No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberties, or property, without due process of the law; [ ] (Green 529). "The primary purpose of this clause was to protect the civil rights of former slaves. However, after the Supreme Court broadened the meaning of the word "person" to include "corporation," the clause began to be used to protect business interests as well" (Green 529). This is the Amendment that prohibits States from forming laws against abortion; and Americans are increasingly relating euthanasia to abortion. .
It becomes difficult for Americans to decide whether or not they approve of euthanasia when both the Court of Appeals and Supreme Courts based in each State are undecided on the issue. In March of 1996, the Ninth Circuit Court decided that the right to euthanasia is interpreted from the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment- the amendment that gives women the right to abortions. One month later, in April, the Second Circuit Court rejected the idea of the due process clause giving the right to euthanasia. They stated that it "sensibly does not fit in this definition." Although the two courts decided differently on the same basic issue, both rulings were upheld. "This, I submit, is what the euthanasia debate is about: theoretical and statistical abstractions versus the anguishing, messy particulars of the special case" (Schneiderman 585). What type of messages are the courts sending to the American public about how to form their opinions?.
