How did today''s debate over euthanasia (taken from the Greek word for ''good death'') become so divisive in American society? In A Merciful End Ian Dowbiggin tells, for the first time, the dramatic story of those reformers who struggled throughout the twentieth century to change the nation''s attitudes towards mercy killing and assisted suicide.Having had access to confidential records in the United States, England and Canada, and having interviewed leading figures in the American euthanasia movement, he reveals that euthanasia has been a contentious issue in America for over a century, long before Jack Kevorkian began helping patients to die. Over the course of the twentieth century, a group of public-spirited men and women tried to break down ancient Judeo-Christian prohibitions against mercy killing, overturn state laws criminalizing assisted suicide, and convince the US Supreme Court that there is a right to die in the Constitution. In their eagerness to succeed, these euthanasia advocates have often sanctioned public policies that blur the fine line between choice and duty, freedom and coercion, the rights of the individual and the needs of society. By the dawn of the twenty-first century, they had won some small victories, and the debate over whose lives were worth living still raged, but Dowbiggin argues that more and more Americans seemed to prefer better end-of-life care to sweeping changes in laws about euthanasia. America''s euthanasia movement entered the twenty-first century ready and willing to fight new wars but facing an uphill battle against sentiments such as these.Original, wide-ranging in scope, but sensitive to the personal dimensions of euthanasia, A Merciful End is an illuminating and cautionary account of the tension between motives and methods within twentieth century social reform. It provides a refreshingly new perspective on an old debate.
Industry Reviews
"A 'must read' book on the history of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.... If you wonder why 'living wills' and health care 'power of attorney' won support at the ballot box but physician-assisted suicide proposals mostly failed, this book explains all."--Baltimore Sun
"Utterly fair and evenhanded. Instead of arguing the issue pro or con, he provides an exhaustively researched and objective history of euthanasia advocacy in the United States.... Dowbiggin's history provides a fascinating study in how little the movement and its tactics have actually changed over the years. Indeed, the book's narrative discloses a remarkably clear and consistent pattern, both in the strategy and substance of euthanasia advocacy, from its
inception to today."--First Things
"A Merciful End is a masterful historical account of the transformation of the tiny and elitist American eugenics and euthanasia movements of the first half of the 20th Century into the much more complex 'right to die' mass movement that closed out the century. Dowbiggin's balanced, well-documented, and insightful history is a must read for anyone who wants to understand why living will and health care proxy laws were enacted in all 50 states, while
physician-assisted suicide laws succeeded only in Oregon, and active euthanasia laws had no success at all."--George J. Annas, Professor of Health Law, Boston University Schools of Law, Medicine, and Public
Health, and author of The Rights of Patients
"A deeply researched, well-written, and admirably well-balanced book on the highly contentious subject of euthanasia in 20th century American life. A skilled historian, he makes clear that the issue has a considerable history in the United States, dating to early in this century. He also places arguments over euthanasia, past and present, in a broad historical social and cultural context, relating these debates to a range of other claims for personal 'rights,'
such as birth control and abortion. And he brings these debates into our 21st century--all in an admirably lean and clearly organized compass. This is a book that should engage readers interested in
social, intellectual, cultural, legal, and medical history."--James T. Patterson, Professor of History, Brown University, and author of Dread Disease: Cancer and Modern American Culture
"In a fascinating and comprehensive analysis of the American euthanasia movement, Dowbiggin rectifies the historical record, demonstrating that the ideological justification for euthanasia lies not in the advanced medical technologies of the late 20th century, but in the social Darwinism, eugenics, and utilitarianism of the late 19th century."--Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D.
"A 'must read' book on the history of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.... If you wonder why 'living wills' and health care 'power of attorney' won support at the ballot box but physician-assisted suicide proposals mostly failed, this book explains all."--Baltimore Sun
"Well-researched and even-handed: a valuable contribution to the literature."--Kirkus Reviews
"Utterly fair and evenhanded. Instead of arguing the issue pro or con, he provides an exhaustively researched and objective history of euthanasia advocacy in the United States.... Dowbiggin's history provides a fascinating study in how little the movement and its tactics have actually changed over the years. Indeed, the book's narrative discloses a remarkably clear and consistent pattern, both in the strategy and substance of euthanasia advocacy, from its
inception to today."--First Things
"Dowbiggin's clear, nuanced prose untangles the complicated interweaving of these arguments, and he is not afraid to fault the morally dubious arguments of some euthanasia partisans.... Without shying away from making his own ethical judgments, Dowbiggin offers an intellectual and moral approach to a cultural flash point."-Publishers Weekly
"A Merciful End is a masterful historical account of the transformation of the tiny and elitist American eugenics and euthanasia movements of the first half of the 20th Century into the much more complex 'right to die' mass movement that closed out the century. Dowbiggin's balanced, well-documented, and insightful history is a must read for anyone who wants to understand why living will and health care proxy laws were enacted in all 50 states, while
physician-assisted suicide laws succeeded only in Oregon, and active euthanasia laws had no success at all."--George J. Annas, Professor of Health Law, Boston University Schools of Law, Medicine, and Public
Health, and author of The Rights of Patients
"A deeply researched, well-written, and admirably well-balanced book on the highly contentious subject of euthanasia in 20th century American life. A skilled historian, he makes clear that the issue has a considerable history in the United States, dating to early in this century. He also places arguments over euthanasia, past and present, in a broad historical social and cultural context, relating these debates to a range of other claims for personal 'rights,'
such as birth control and abortion. And he brings these debates into our 21st century--all in an admirably lean and clearly organized compass. This is a book that should engage readers interested in
social, intellectual, cultural, legal, and medical history."--James T. Patterson, Professor of History, Brown University, and author of Dread Disease: Cancer and Modern American Culture
"In a fascinating and comprehensive analysis of the American euthanasia movement, Dowbiggin rectifies the historical record, demonstrating that the ideological justification for euthanasia lies not in the advanced medical technologies of the late 20th century, but in the social Darwinism, eugenics, and utilitarianism of the late 19th century."--Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D.
