The Role of Families in Medical Decisions

In one, Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, the Court's majority ruled that the constitution permits a state to refuse deference to parents of an incompetent, comatose patient. The parents sought to withdraw artificial feeding and hydration; they sought, in short, to terminate medical treatment and thereby permit the death of their severely impaired daughter. In the other case, Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, the Court construed the Constitution to permit a state to require notification of a parent when a minor daughter seeks an abortion. In the one case, then, the states can deny parents participation in the decision over their daughter's medical treatment; in the other, the states can require parental participation.