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Freedom to Die: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen
 
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Freedom to Die: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen [Hardcover]

Derek Humphrey (Author), Mary Clement (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Over 20 million people tuned in to watch Dr. Jack Kevorkian help a terminally ill man die on 60 Minutes during television-sweeps week in November 1998. The right to choose when to die is a deeply divisive issue around the world, and is especially so in the United States, thanks in part to Kevorkian and other activists. In Freedom to Die, Derek Humphry and Mary Clement describe the history of the right-to-die movement and explain all sides of the debate. Humphry has been an advocate of physician-assisted suicide ever since his wife died slowly and painfully of cancer in the mid-1970s. Humphry founded the Hemlock Society, one of the first advocacy organizations on this issue, and has written several other books on the subject.

The authors describe how technological advances, changes in the doctor-patient relationship, poor end-of-life care, and the civil-rights movement prompted the development of the right-to-die movement. Humphry and Clement are very critical of doctors' determination to keep a patient alive even after the patient's quality of life has become unbearably low:

To rely so heavily on technology and biological functions to define the states of life and death is to deny the very social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life that give it meaning. In their zeal to fashion new and improved technologies, many doctors have promoted measures that are inappropriate and whose applications often have horrendous consequences.
After outlining the history of the movement and the arguments of those on all sides of the issue, Humphry and Clement explain the 1997 Oregon Death with Dignity Act and other recent legislation. Even those who do not agree with the authors that choosing when to die is "the ultimate civil right" will find this book a useful tool in understanding this turbulent debate. --Jill Marquis

From Library Journal

In 1991, Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society, published his best-selling Final Exit (Hemlock Society), fueling the national debate over physician-assisted suicide. Now, he and lawyer Clement provide a history of the right-to-die debate. As reasons for increased public sympathy for assisted suicide, they cite advances in medical technology coupled with increases in costs, the failure to address chronic pain control, AIDS, and the rights culture that first appeared in the 1960s. The authors then trace the issue's history from Karen Ann Quinlan in 1979 through the appearance of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in 1990 to the Oregon initiative from 1994 through 1997. Discussion of the religious, medical, and political opposition also appears, along with coverage of Dutch assisted-suicide laws, the status of state-assisted suicide laws, and a chronology. Though obviously favoring the right to die, the authors present their opinions in a clear, low-key manner. All individuals interested in this question should read this work; highly recommended for public and academic libraries.
-AStephen L. Hupp, Swedenborg Memorial Lib., Urbana Univ., OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars The Right To Die, Aug 20 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Freedom to Die: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen (Hardcover)
Great book. Our society makes it a "sin" to help terminally ill people end their lives without further pain. Thats the sin! When you're well, a book such as this might seem ridiculous but when you're walking in death's shoes from a painful, degenerating disease, its complete inhumane torture to allow the patient to suffer past his/her wishes.
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1.0 out of 5 stars "Right-to-die": killing disabled people for economic reasons, Aug 10 2000
By 
Michael Muehe (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Freedom to Die: People, Politics, and the Right-to-Die Movement (Paperback)
Chapter 21 of this book, titled "The Unspoken Argument," advocates the economic benefits of euthanasia, as follows: "Similar to other social issues, the right-to-die movement has not arisen separate and distinct from other concurrent developments of our time. In attempting to answer the question Why Now?, one must look at the realities of the increasing cost of health care in an aging society, because in the final analysis, economics, not the quest for broadened individual liberties or increased autonomy, will drive assisted suicide to the plateau of acceptable practice."

Derek Humphry and other right-to-die leaders, time after time, have demonstrated the same willingness to promote this final "solution" to the problems of people with disabilities. Taken together, these words and deeds mark a clear and consistent pattern - one that includes promotion of euthanasia and extermination of people with disabilities.

Nevertheless, leaders of the pro-euthanasia movement still often falsely claim that their concerns are only for those with terminal illness. Their messages are tailored to specific audiences and vary greatly depending on the immediate political climate. The Hemlock Society, its leaders and its allies, need to come forward, to clearly state their complete agenda and open it to honest debate.

Credit: Not Dead Yet! -- Disability activists opposed to the legalization of assisted suicide

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5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, Oct 13 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Freedom to Die: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen (Hardcover)
This book truly made me re-think my attitude towards the subject. Mr. Humphrey and Ms. Clement should be commended for this masterpiece.
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