Preserving Life, Protecting Dignity: A Call to Abolish Physician-Assisted Suicide

The legalization of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in states such as California and Oregon has introduced a dangerous contradiction into American law and ethics – undermining the state’s longstanding interest in preserving human life while eroding the sanctity of life itself. This research aims to analyze: How do laws legalizing physician-assisted suicide conflict with the state’s compelling interest in preserving life, and how does the biblical principle of the sanctity of life provide a more coherent legal and ethical foundation? This project will employ a legal textual analysis of primary legal sources, including Washington v. Glucksberg, Vacco v. Quill, and state statutes such as Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act and California’s End of Life Option Act. These documents will be evaluated alongside biblical texts that emphasize the sanctity of life, as well as commentary from theologians and jurists who have linked biblical principles to the development of Western legal traditions. The research will also examine secondary sources, including law review articles, scholarly commentaries, and historical case law tracing the legal evolution of assisted suicide and the state’s interest in protecting vulnerable populations. This research will demonstrate that PAS laws create a dangerous inconsistency—permitting what was traditionally prohibited (assisting suicide), weakening legal protections for vulnerable populations, and compromising the ethical foundations of the medical profession. By returning to a biblical worldview centered on the inherent value of human life, a legal framework will be proposed that reaffirms the state’s duty to preserve life, strengthens palliative care options, and reinforces the intrinsic dignity of all persons. This research has direct application for those inside and outside the legal realm as they engage in the ongoing debate over end-of-life laws, medical ethics, and the fundamental value of human life in American law and culture.