Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Laboratory to the State of Hawaii
Lindsay N. McAneeley, 29 U. Haw. L. Rev. 269 (2009)
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This comment considers the current state of the law with respect to PAS and alternative routes to its legalization in the State of Hawai’i. Part II of this comment provides an overview of the current legal standard regarding PAS, reviewing the seminal federal cases, Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, and the federal government’s unsuccessful challenges to this Act. Part III summarizes the reported data from Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, demonstrating the success of the program and the effectiveness of its procedural safeguards. Part IV of this comment discusses why the State of Hawai’i should be the next state to legalize PAS. This part explores the various factors that make Hawai’i a particularly compatible forum for PAS and also reviews the recent efforts that have been made by the Hawai’i legislature to legalize its practice. Part V attempts to explain why these legislative efforts have thus far been unsuccessful, identifying the primary bases of opposition to PAS in Hawai’i. This part also explains why these concerns should not continue to thwart efforts to legalize PAS in Hawai’i. This comment concludes by exploring alternative routes that the citizens of Hawai’i may pursue in their efforts to legalize PAS, including a state constitutional challenge based on Hawai’i's explicit right to privacy, and a public referendum.
