concerning an abortion (Fraser, 1990, pp. 45-47).
Within nursing, disparate opinion also exists with respect to the abortion issue. There are pro-life nurses and pro-choice nurses, as there are pro-life and pro-choice proponents in the general population. There are also nurses who are ambivalent towards this volatile issue (Silva, 1991, pp. 69-79).
The issue of assisted suicide has been brought to the forefront of public attention in the United States largely through the activities of Dr. Jack Kevorkian (Ferraiuolo, 1994, p. 78). Much earlier, however, the Hemlock Society was advocating a person's right to make a choice about her or his own death·the individual's right to die (Byock, 1991, pp. 51-66). This issue poses serious moral dilemmas for some nurses.
The professional nurse in the 1990s must confront the issues of a patient's right to die and assisted suicide. While the professional nurse is dealing with these provocative issues, he or she must sweep away the confusion purposefully introduced into the public disc
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