Prosecutors and end-of-life decision making.

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Abstract
IN THE 20 years since the New Jersey Supreme Court's Karen Ann Quinlan decision in 1976, our society has forged an operative consensus about the legality and morality of forgoing life-sustaining medical treatment. This consensus has rejected an absolute vitalism—that life must be preserved as long as possible no matter what the circumstances.1,2 Nonetheless, some treatment limitations, such as forgoing artificial provision of fluids and nutrition or turning off mechanical ventilators remain problematic for many persons from a psychosocial and moral, if not legal, perspective.3 A new and increasingly visible debate involves whether our society should take the next step: allowing physicians to aid their patients in actively hastening death.

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