BACKGROUND

Courts in at least 27 states, including California, have ruled that patients have a right to die. Only in Missouri has a state court gone the other way; the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 1988 that the state’s interest in life may outweigh a patient’s right to die, particularly when the patient’s wishes are unknown. The Supreme Court, in its first ruling on the right-to-die issue, upheld the Missouri decision on grounds that the states have the authority to rule in this area.