Death Talk: The Case Against Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

471 Pages·2014·19.09 MB·English

by  Margaret Somerville

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Death Talk
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Death Talk
The Case against Euthanasia
and Physician-Assisted Suicide
Second Edition
margaret somerville
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston London Ithaca
• •
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© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2014
isbn 978-0-7735-4376-8 (paper)
isbn 978-0-7735-8915-5 (epdf)
isbn 978-0-7735-8916-2 (epub)
Legal deposit second quarter 2014
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
First edition 2001
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
McGill-Queen’s University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada
Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the
financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book
Fund for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Somerville, Margaret A., 1942–, author
Death talk: the case against euthanasia and physician-assisted
suicide/Margaret Somerville. – Second edition.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
isbn 978-0-7735-4376-8 (pbk.). – isbn 978-0-7735-8915-5 (epdf). –
isbn 978-0-7735-8916-2 (epub)
1. Euthanasia. 2. Assisted suicide. I. Title.
r726.s64 2014 179.7 c2014-901256-x
c2014-901257-8
This book was typeset by Interscript in 10/12 Baskerville.
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for my parents,
gertrude honora ganley
and
george patrick ganley,
in memoriam
and
for my brother,
robert john (bob) ganley
in memoriam
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Prologue xiii
Preface to the Second Edition xxi
part one: euthanasia and the search
for a new societal paradigm
1 Euthanasia, Genetics, Reproductive Technologies, and the
Search for a New Societal Paradigm 3
part two: evolution of the euthanasia
controversy
2 Should the Grandparents Die? Allocation of Medical
Resources with an Aging Population 13
3 The Song of Death: The Lyrics of Euthanasia 24
4 “Death Talk” in Canada: The Rodriguez Case 86
5 The Definition of Euthanasia: A Paradoxical
Partnership 101
6 Legalizing Euthanasia: Why Now? 105
7 Euthanasia by Confusion 119
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viii Contents
8 (a) Guidelines for Legalized Euthanasia in Canada: A Proposal
by Torsten O. Nielsen 144
(b) Guidelines for Legalized Euthanasia in Canada:
A Rejection of Nielsen’s Proposal 153
(c) Guidelines for Legalized Euthanasia in Canada:
A Response to Somerville’s Rejection by Torsten O.
Nielsen 156
(d) Guidelines for Legalized Euthanasia in Canada:
A Response to Nielsen’s Response 158
9 Executing Euthanasia: A Review Essay 160
10 Why Aren’t Physicians Interested in the Ethics and Law of
Euthanasia? A Conference Report 168
part three: untreated pain
and euthanasia
11 Pain and Suffering at Interfaces of Medicine and Law 173
12 Ethics, Law, and Palliative Treatment and Care: The Dying
Elderly Person 198
13 The Relief of Suffering: Human Rights and Medicine 205
14 Death of Pain: Pain, Suffering, and Ethics 218
part four: respect for dying people
and euthanasia
15 (a) Death at a New York Hospital by Engelbert L.
Schucking 233
(b) Searching for the Governing Values, Policies, and Attitudes:
Commentary on “Death at a New York Hospital” 247
16 (a) Human Dignity and Disease, Disability, Suffering: A
Philosophical Contribution to the Euthanasia and Assisted
Suicide Debate by Sylvia D. Stolberg 255
(b) Unpacking the Concept of Human Dignity in Human(e)
Death: Comments on “Human Dignity and Disease,
Disability and Suffering” 262
17 (a) Prothanasia: Personal Fulfilment and Readiness to Die by
Constantine John Falliers 269
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ix Contents
(b) Taming the Tiger: Reflections on “Prothanasia: Personal
Fulfilment and Readiness to Die” 273
18 Debating A Gentle Death: A Review Essay 278
part five: euthanasia in the “public
square”
19 Euthanasia in the Media: Journalists’ Values, Media Ethics,
and “Public Square” Messages 289
20 Euthanasia and the Death Penalty 299
part six: ethical and legal “tools”
in the euthanasia debate
21 Labels versus Contents: Variance between Philosophy,
Psychiatry, and Law in Concepts Governing Decision-
Making 305
22 Human Rights and Human Ethics: Health and Health
Care 327
Epilogue 345
Notes 349
Permissions and Place of Publication 403
Index 405