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10 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 269 (2022-2023)
My Body, My Choice: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized in the United States for Individuals with Chronic Mental Illness

handle is hein.journals/twlram10 and id is 297 raw text is: MY BODY, MY CHOICE: SHOULD PHYSICIAN- ASSISTED SUICIDE BE LEGALIZED IN THE UNITED STATES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC MENTAL ILLNESS? by: Angelika Anderson* ABSTRACT Many individuals with mental illness wish to die because the symptoms of their illness are unbearable. They shoot, suffocate, and poison themselves to make their pain go away. Because this is a statistical reality, a more certain and less violent means of death should be legalized. This Comment advocates for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide (PAS). As of 2022, nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized PAS for terminal illness, but this Comment argues that all fifty states should legalize PAS and not only for terminal illness, but for chronic mental illness as well. To do so, this Com- ment suggests minimum requirements legislators can adopt regarding which mental illnesses the PAS legislation should cover, how to assess competence to consent, and in what form that consent must be offered. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .......................................... 270 II. ARGUMENT FOR LEGALIZATION ........................ 273 III. MENTAL ILLNESS & SUICIDE............................ 277 IV. PROPOSED LEGISLATION ................................ 283 A. Assessing Qualifying Conditions .................... 284 B. Assessing Competence to Consent ................... 286 1. Competence to Choose Potential Death ........ 287 2. Competence to Choose Imminent Death ....... 289 C. Form of Consent.................................... 292 V . CONCLUSION ............................................ 296 DOI: https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V10.12.3 * J.D. Candidate, Texas A&M University School of Law, May 2023. I would like to thank Meg Penrose, Nicholas Roide, and the Texas A&M Law Review for helping publish this important piece-may it bring hope. I would also like to thank my part- ner, family, and friends for always nurturing my spirit. 269