Throughout the twentieth century, major scientific and medical advances have greatly enhance the life expectancy of the average person. In cases where the patient suffers from a terminal disease or remains in a "persistent vegetative state" from which they cannot voice their wishes for continuation or termination of life, the question becomes whether or not the patient has the freedom to choose whether or not to prolong their life even though it may consist of pain and suffering. In answer to this question, proponents of doctor-assisted suicide, most notably, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, are of the opinion that not only should patients be able to abstain from treatment, but if they have a terminal or extremely painful condition, they should be able to seek out the assistance of a doctor in order to expedite their death with as little pain as possible.
Passive euthanasia involves the right to die which is protected by the United States Constitution clauses of due process liberty and the right to privacy (Fourteenth Amendment). The right to doctor-assisted suicide is the patient's right to authorize a physician to perform an act that intentionally results in the patient's death, without the physician's being held civilly or criminally liable for having caused the death.".
Euthanasia was first deemed legal by the New Jersey State Supreme Court in 1976 in the case of Karen Quinlan. (Schneider pg. 1) In the Quinlan case, the court allowed a competent patient to terminate the use of life-sustaining medical machines to prolong life. Supreme Court held that this passive kind of euthanasia was legal but only for competent adults or those who are incompetent but have previously procured a living will. However, if the patient is without a living will and incompetent, it becomes the burden of the family to prove that there is "clear and convincing evidence" to the affect that the patient does not want to continue living in a vegetative state.