Assisted Suicide, Liberal Individualism, and Visceral Jurisprudence: A Reply to Professor Chemerinsky

14 Pages Posted: 15 Aug 2013

See all articles by Eric Alan Johnson

Eric Alan Johnson

University of Illinois College of Law

Date Written: December 1, 2003

Abstract

This Reply answers a critique by Professor Erwin Chemerinsky of the Alaska Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding the state’s ban on assisted suicide. The author argues that a constitutional right to assisted suicide would have to be grounded on the detrimental assumption that disabilities make life less worthy of protection. The author also argues that recognition of a right to assisted suicide would paradoxically diminish personal freedom by exposing society’s most vulnerable members to coercion to end their lives.

Keywords: Assisted suicide, privacy, state constitutional law

JEL Classification: K14

Suggested Citation

Johnson, Eric Alan, Assisted Suicide, Liberal Individualism, and Visceral Jurisprudence: A Reply to Professor Chemerinsky (December 1, 2003). Alaska Law Review, Vol. 20, No. No. 2, pp. 321-334, 2003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2310304

Eric Alan Johnson (Contact Author)

University of Illinois College of Law ( email )

504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820
United States

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