Product Description

While it may seem that debates over euthanasia began with Jack Kervorkian, the practice of mercy killing extends back to Ancient Greece and beyond. In America, the debate has raged for well over a century. Now, in A Merciful End, Ian Dowbiggin offers the first full-scale historical account of one of the most controversial reform movements in America. Drawing on unprecedented access to the archives of the Euthanasia Society of America, interviews with important figures in the movement today, and flashpoint cases such as the tragic fate of Karen Ann Quinlan, Dowbiggin tells the dramatic story of the men and women who struggled throughout the twentieth century to change the nation's attitude--and its laws--regarding mercy killing. In tracing the history of the euthanasia movement, he documents its intersection with other progressive social causes: women's suffrage, birth control, abortion rights, as well as its uneasy pre-WWII alliance with eugenics. Such links brought euthanasia activists into fierce conflict with Judeo-Christian institutions who worried that "the right to die" might become a "duty to die." Indeed, Dowbiggin argues that by joining a sometimes overzealous quest to maximize human freedom with a desire to "improve" society, the euthanasia movement has been dogged by the fear that mercy killing could be extended to persons with disabilities, handicapped newborns, unconscious geriatric patients, lifelong criminals, and even the poor. Justified or not, such fears have stalled the movement, as more and more Americans now prefer better end-of-life care than wholesale changes in euthanasia laws. For anyone trying to decide whether euthanasia offers a humane alternative to prolonged suffering or violates the "sanctity of life," A Merciful End provides fascinating and much-needed historical context.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #449015 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Before the 20th century, "few Americans... felt that there was a need to legalize euthanasia," writes Dowbiggin, a professor of history at Canada's University of Prince Edward Island. But as the 20th century progressed, the impact of such scientific thinkers as Darwin and Spencer led to popular endorsements of various theories of eugenics that undercut religious beliefs about the sacredness of human life and promoted popular support not only for a right to die, but for the killing of the feebleminded and infirm. By 1939 "roughly 40 percent of all Americans polled said they supported legalizing government-supervised mercy-killing of the terminally ill." Dowbiggin has brought together a wealth of social history, medical knowledge and political analysis to elucidate the complex history of U.S. movements that endorsed mercy killing and the ever-shifting public sentiments that they engendered. It was the horrendous misuse of euthanasia under Nazism that shifted both the tone and the content of public discourse. 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, who made little distinction between mercy killing and the harshest forms of eugenics. Most of Dowbiggin's arguments are illustrated through a history of the Euthanasia Society of America (founded in 1938) and chronicles its evolving positions and high profile cases such as the 1976 New Jersey Supreme Court decision to let Karen Ann Quinlin's parents remove her from a respirator. The final two chapters cover Kevorkian and AIDS-related issues, among other pivot points. Without shying away from making his own ethical judgments, Dowbiggin offers an intellectual and moral approach to a cultural flash point.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
... this fine wrought history will prove fascinating and rewarding reading not only for those involved in the euthanasia debate on all sides, but also for those studying the interrelationship between ethics, law and society. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy: A European Journal, Vol 7, No 2

Review
"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.

Customer Reviews

Top notch research and enlightening study
I found this book recently passing by the "new releases" section of the library and shortly found myself utterly engrossed so I checked it out. At first I figured it would simply recount a dry history of various episodes of euthanasia but soon found that not only does this book deal with euthanasia, but also with a whole host of other related issues (ideological origins, concepts, etc.) that demand our attention when dealing with the subject of euthanasia. The author does an excellent job of maintaining an objective stance for the most part. This isn't intended as an argument for or against but rather how and why euthanasia and similar issues should remain at the top or our priorities. However, for the record, upon learning the ideological origins and history of the euthanasia movement, its direct link to eugenics, its connection with various unscrupulous individuals as founders and instigators, etc., it becomes very hard for reasonable people to support any vestige of euthanasia.

In short, the author traces the origins of euthanasia, both ideological as well as geographical and cultural. We find that altough various forms of euthanasia have existed probably since our beginning, in terms of a formal movement or social agenda the modern idea finds its roots firmly planted in the fairly recent history having its earliest beginnings in the Enlightenment (at least with certain individuals during the Enlightenment) but not materializing until Darwin. Just the discussions concerning euthanasia and its connection with Darwinst ideology, natural selection, evolution, and Humanism more than merit anyone's serious attention. The author truly deserves credit for the research involved in writing this book. The bibliography and notes comprise almost a quarter of the books bulk. He takes you all the way to the bedrock principles that drive euthanasia and where they came from with all the proof anybody could want for his conclusions concering euthanasia's history. He is insightful without being biased, complete but brief, factual and detailed while not boring or cumbersome.

In my view, the greatest value of this little book lies on two fronts. First, its unsaid and indirect prompting of any rational person to serioulsy question why you would support or not support euthanasia. Second, it forces (or should force) an individual to delve into much deeper philosophical water concerning the existence of God, human life and its value or lack thereof, and the direction we as human beings should take in the future concerning these and other such issues. In short, this book prompts us to think. I can think of no higher compliment to give.