The Rising Agenda of Physician-Assisted Suicide: Explaining the Growth and Content of Morality Policy |
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| Authors: | Henry R Click Amy Hutchinson |
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| Institution: | Henry R. Click is professor of political science, and research associate in the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, at Florida State University. He teaches and conducts research on state court systems and judicial policy, including recent work on the right to die. He has authored numerous books and journal articles on the courts and judicial process, and on right-to-die policy, including The Right to Die;(Columbia University Press, 1992). Amy Hutchinson is a research associate for Economic Research Services, Inc. (ERS), located in Tallahassee, FL. ERS is a professional research firm providing a variety of services in economic and statistical analysis. She also is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at Flordia State University. |
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| Abstract: | Employing theories and methods of agenda-setting analysis, this article explains the rapid rise of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) on the national political agenda based on its status as a morality policy. PAS reached the mass agenda before the professional agenda, probably because PAS is an outgrowth of previous right-to-die policies and Dr. Jack Kevorkian's assisted suicides provided major focusing events. As in other morality policies, competing groups fight for the last word, but PAS has been blocked on most governmental agendas because its image and media tone has been mostly negative and public opinion is divided. Groups in a few generally liberal states have tried to enact policy through referenda when legislators failed to address the issue. We speculate that competing interest groups will become more active and that state courts will become a venue of choice in the future. |
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