미국의 의사자살방조에 관한 법리 논쟁과 입법에 관한 고찰

Physician-assisted suicide is an act that takes place in a special situation when a terminally ill patient voluntarily asks a doctor for help in death, when he can no longer tolerate pain and no other treatment is available. Therefore it is necessary to discuss the legal protection of doctors from criminal responsibility first in relation to whether or not physician-assisted suicide is permitted. Recently, there has been an increasing number of studies dealing with the approval or legalization of physician assisted suicide. Many scholars are discussing the approval and legalization of physician assisted suicide with their various logical grounds. As part of comparative legal research, they introduce foreign legislation and systems that allow physician-assisted suicide. However, there is bound to be a limit in which foreign laws and systems cannot be accepted in Korea as they are. This is because historical, social, and cultural differences exist in each country, and as mentioned in the judgment of the U.S. Supreme Court, there are deep-rooted differences in thel history and legal traditions and practices of the country. Rather than looking into foreign systems in part, it is necessary to examine the progress and trends in each country’s historical, cultural, social, and judicial aspects, and to consider how legislation was enacted and implemented accordingly. It is expected that the historical and legal analysis and review of the requirements for physician-assisted suicide in the United States can serve as a basis for a fierce public debate process and policy proposals related to the approval of legal physician-assisted suicide in Korea.