Introduction
Introduction
From the Karen Quinlan case of the 1970s to the Nancy Cruzan case today, Americans have been forced by the advance of medical science and technology to struggle with the painful question of when it is right to discontinue life-sustaining medical treatment and let someone die. Now, as they refine the answer to that question, physicians, ethicists and lawyers are confronting another one: Is there a difference between allowing a terminally ill patient to die and actively helping him to do so?