Cruzan v. Director of Missouri Department of Health
Supreme Court of the United States (1989)

TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES..........................ii

INTEREST OF THE AMICUS CURIAE..................1

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT............................4

ARGUMENT

I. The Narrow Issue Before This Court Is
Whether The Federal Constitution Prohibits
Missouri From Continuing To Provide
Nutrition And Hydration Under The
Circumstances Of This Case.....................7

II. Missouri's Interest In The Preservation
And Sanctity Of Human Life Is A "Compelling"
State Interest; It Should Generally Take
Precedence Over Whatever Liberty/Privacy Right
Patients May Have To Decline Life-Sustaining
Medical Intervention..........................10

III. Nothing In The Constitution Prohibits
The States From Insisting On The Highest
Caliber Of Evidence Regarding The Patient's Own
Wishes When Third Parties Seek To Assert An
Incompetent Patient's Right To Terminate
Life-Sustaining Medical Intervention..........18

CONCLUSION....................................24