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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines the beginning of life, in their draft of the 2018-2022 strategic plan, as conception. This plan is still being updated as its last update was February, 2018. In return I was interested in the opinions of when death is official. The closest government definition is the Medical definition described as the irreversible cessation of vital functions, such as the heart, respiration, and brain activity, resulting in the end of life.

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In this Supreme Court case a pregnant Texas woman sued the District Attorney, Wade. She was unmarried and did not want to give birth to the baby, but in Texas it was illegal to abort a fetus unless it would harm the mother. The court concluded that the 14th Amendment, specifically addressing The People, saw that the right did not belong to the unborn. They ruled that the law did violate women's fundamental right to privacy. In the 7-2 ruling they decided that through women's right to privacy someone could have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. The Justices argued in the first three months of pregnancy the fetus is barely developed. Anywhere further than that the states could decide the cut-off. If the definition stays true I wonder how it will affect abortions in the future? How much battle and fuss will there be against it?

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"By 8 weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch.  After 20 weeks, the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognized as painful if applied to an adult human" (Doctors on Fetal Pain). Nebraska was the first state to recognize this by changing their abortion laws. Because of Nebraska Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas jumped on the law and adopted it as well. Additionally 12 states are required to give the mother looking out for an abortions documentation the chance of fetal pain. The Death Penalty under the Constitution is required to not inflict unnecessarily pain towards the criminal. How can the country have a legal act that can inflict pain on a harmful fetus? The baby, even though not born, is still a person and is being harmed and killed just because another person's decisions, but now tortured. As a country there should be no room for error especially at the expense of killing.

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In 1982, Pennsylvania adopted the Abortion Control Act which included many restrictions and wait time until the mother could follow through with the abortion. Planned Parenthood sued the state saying it violated the ruling of Roe v. Wade. After awhile since the beginning of the case the Supreme Court had finally released a solution. The final ruling was they agreed with the Roe v. Wade decision, but much of Pennsylvania's laws were constitutional. They proclaimed that anything acting as a obstacle to getting an abortion violated woman's privacy rights. After examining Pennsylvania's laws they found that the only real unconstitutional law was having to inform the male partner as he could potentially cause abuse and obstruction. This case widened the spectrum as states could now regulate abortions and clinics.

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The Human Rights Act was founded in 1998 in the U.K. and was based off the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. This Act gives you a right to life and protects it by law and also prohibits torture and inhuman acts. Because of this the Death Penalty is illegal; However abortion is not, only limits applied. It is said the the right to life and human rights is not applied until birth. The pregnancy must be under 24 weeks for a mother to have an abortion. It was also decided by the courts that the right to life does not give a right to death.

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Heard by the New Mexico Supreme Court this case deals with the topics of right to death, death with dignity, and physician assisted suicide. New Mexico statute 30-2-4 makes assisted suicide a fourth degree felony. A cancer patient Aja Riggs and two doctors Dr. Katherine Morris and Dr. Aroop Mangalik challenge this law. Riggs, 51, was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She went through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, but was able to recover and enter remission. Once analysing her long journey it took to reach where she was she determined she wanted the choice of asking her doctor for assisted suicide or beating the pain till her final days if the cancer ever came back. But on June 30, the court decided physician assisted suicide was not a fundamental right listed in New Mexico's Constitution

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Diane Pretty was paralyzed and suffered from a degenerative and terminal illness. She went into the court requesting the her husband not be prosecuted for assisting herself in suicide. She was suffering in Motor Neurone Disease which results in severe weakness of the body. Someone suffering for MND normally dies from failure of the breathing muscles and being unable to swallow resulting in a painful death. Pretty was diagnosed in 1999 and decreased rapidly. During the time of the case she was barely able to speak and was fed through a tube. It was not a crime to commit suicide, but under the Suicide Act it was illegal to assist one. Pretty using Article 2, 3, 8, 9, and Article 14 argued that her death if unassisted would be painful and treacherous. She proved that through Article 8 that it gave her freedom to choose what to do with her own body and through the 14 she was discriminated that she could not commit suicide alone because of her disabilities. The court unanimously voted the their were no violations to her request.

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Physician assisted suicide falls under this category as it is only legal in 14% of the country. Physician assisted suicide can be defined as follows: the act of assisting people with their death in order to end their suffering. In District of Columbia, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, Colorado, and Washington physician assisted suicide is legal; In Montana and California it is legal with a court ruling/decision. For the assisted suicide to be considered legal the patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illness and a estimated life span of six months or less. The law says the physician assisting must be willing to partake and cannot be prosecuted after. It also lists and applies criminal penalties for tampering or coercing the patients decisions. The individual states have different laws and guidelines that pertain to that specific state.

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Four physicians along with three terminally ill patients and a non-profit organization counseling patients considering physician assisted suicide sued the state saying their assisted suicide ban was unconstitutional going against the 14th Amendment. The physicians said they would help their terminal patients commit suicide and believed "The Constitution ecompasses a due process liberty in controlling the time and manners of one's death" (Washington v. Glucksberg). The Supreme Court ended up ruling against the saying, "A law prohibiting anyone from aiding or causing another to commit suicide is constitutional" (Washington v. Glucksberg).

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Even though this case was not taken to the supreme court I thought it was relevant and very interesting. Jack Kevorkian, commonly known as Dr. Death, had administered lethal injections to terminally ill patients. Kevorkian had recorded an appointment with Thomas Youk with Kevorkian administering/injecting lethal chemicals in Youk. Youk was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease being paralyzed. The video had been later aired on CBS' 60 minutes suggesting murder charges instead of assisted suicide, which he was partaking in. Kevorkian's case was heard by the Michigan state court and the jury found him guilty of Second degree murder and delivery of a controlled substances. Judge Jessica Cooper sentenced him to 10-25 years in prison. Jack Kevorkian was released early having only served 8 years

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“ACLU of New Mexico.” Katie Couric - You Can Watch #GenderRevolution Right Here,..., 26 Oct. 2015, www.facebook.com/aclunm/photos/a.375500623659/10153251131058660/?type=1&theater.

Arora, Kavita Shah, and Christina Salazar. “Fetal Pain Legislation.” Journal of Ethics | American Medical Association, American Medical Association, 1 Oct. 2014, journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/fetal-pain-legislation/2014-10.
“Article 2: Right to Life.” What Are Human Rights? | Equality and Human Rights Commission, 15 Nov. 2018, www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-2-right-life.

Doctors on Fetal Pain. “2: Documentation.” 2: Documentation –, www.doctorsonfetalpain.com/fetal-pain-the-evidence/2-documentation/.
HHS Office. “Strategic Plan FY 2018 - 2022.” HHS.gov, US Department of Health and Human Services, 28 Feb. 2018, www.hhs.gov/about/strategic-plan/index.html#organizational.

“Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court.” United States v. Nixon | Www.streetlaw.org, landmarkcases.org/en/landmark/cases/roe_v_wade.
Libadmin. “The Human Rights Act.” Liberty Human Rights, 27 May 2015, www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/human-rights/human-rights-act.

Liu, Joseph. “A History of Key Abortion Rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 6 May 2013, www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/a-history-of-key-abortion-rulings-of-the-us-supreme-court/#fetal.

McBride, Alex. “The Supreme Court . Expanding Civil Rights . Landmark Cases . Casey v. Planned Parenthood (1992) | PBS.” Legendary Violinists. Fritz Kreisler, MetroFocus, www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_casey.html.

“Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts.” CNN, Cable News Network, 3 Jan. 2019, www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/us/physician-assisted-suicide-fast-facts/index.html.

“Washington v. Glucksberg.” Casebriefs United States v Nixon Comments, Casebriefs, www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/constitutional-law/constitutional-law-keyed-to-sullivan/substantive-due-process-rise-decline-revival/washington-v-glucksberg-7/.
“What Is the Medical Definition of Death?” Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?, 11 Apr. 2018, euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000197.

“What Is the Medical Definition of Death?” Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?, 11 Apr. 2018, euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000197.

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