Waubonsee Community College

The right to die, a reference handbook, Howard Ball

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-328)

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

The right to die

bibliography

959037371

Howard Ball

Contemporary world issues

a reference handbook

"The Right to Die: A Reference Handbook provides a complete examination of right-to-die issues in the United States that dissects the complex arguments for and against a person's liberty to receive a physician's assistance to hasten death. It covers the legal aspects and the politics of the right-to-die controversy, analyzes the battles over the right to die in state and federal courts, and supplies primary source documents that illustrate the political, medical, legal, religious, and ethical landscape of the right to die. Additionally, the book examines how members of our society typically die has changed in the past 150 years and how the practice of medicine has evolved over that time; explains why the right to die is strongly opposed by many religious groups as well as members of the medical profession; considers the "slippery slope" argument against doctor-assisted suicide; and identifies the reasons that the disabled, the poor, the elderly and infirm, and some members of ethnic, racial, and religious minority groups typically fear physician-assisted death."--Publisher's website

Background and History -- Introduction -- Changes in How We Die -- The Changing Doctor-Patient Relationship -- The First Efforts to Pass Euthanasia Bills in America -- The Medicalization of Death -- The Basic Arguments Supporting and Opposing PAD -- The Arguments of Supporters of PAD -- The Major Groups Supporting PAD -- Doctors as "Indiscriminate Zealots" -- The Conventional Physician/Supporter of PAD -- Professional Medical Groups Supportive of PAD -- Nonmedical Groups Supporting PAD -- The Two Major PAD Pressure Groups -- The Alternatives Available to Terminally Ill Patients if PAD Is Not Legal -- Becoming a "Death Tourist," -- The Arguments in Opposition to PAD -- Religious Groups Opposed to PAD -- Medical Groups Opposed to PAD -- Vulnerable Groups' Opposition to PAD -- Not Dead Yet: The Disabled Community's Vocal Advocate -- Conclusion -- References -- Problems, Controversies, and Solutions -- Introduction -- The Right to Die Battle in the Courts -- The PVS Cases: The Initial Judicial Foray into the Contemporary Right to Die Controversy -- The Central Role of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Right to Die Controversy -- Efforts to Pass Right to Die Legislation: 1990-2016 -- The Oregon Story, 1994-2006 -- The Unsuccessful State Efforts after 1997 -- Washington State's Battles to Pass a PAD Initiative, 1991-2008 -- The Vermont Effort to Pass a PAD Law, 2003-2015 -- California's Odyssey to the Passage of the End of Life Option Act, 1992-2015 -- The Role of State Courts in the Right to Die Controversy -- Baxter v. Montana (2009) -- Morris v. New Mexico (2014-2016) -- Some Unresolved Problems Linked with Aid in Dying -- Fears -- The Patient-Doctor Relationship -- Trust and Mistrust in the Health Care System -- The Semantic Problem -- The Supreme Court and the Constitution -- The "To Be Terminal, or Not to Be 'Terminal' " Problem: An Example of the Slippery Slope? -- The Right to Die Dilemma: Is There a Solution? -- The Resolvable Problems -- The Unbending Problem -- References -- Perspectives -- Is There a Right to Die? / Robert D. Orr -- My Life Is Mine by Stanley Greenberg and Kay Stambler -- The Campaign to Pass the Patient Choice at End of Life Bill in Vermont / Dick and Ginny Walters -- Why Disability Rights Advocates Oppose Assisted Suicide / Diane Coleman -- The Canadian Journey to Medical Assistance in Dying / Sister Nuala Patricia Kenny -- Physician-Assisted Death as a Legally Available Last Resort Option / Timothy E. Quill -- Death with Dignity, 2016 / E. James Lieberman -- Medical Futility, Then and Now / Barron H. Lerner -- Profiles -- Introduction -- Individuals Supporting Death with Dignity Laws -- Marcia Angell -- Margaret P. Battin -- Gerald Dworkin -- Linda Ganzini -- Booth Gardner -- Stephen Hawking -- Derek Humphry -- Jack Kevorkian -- Barbara Coombs Lee -- Barron H. Lerner -- Brittney Maynard -- Philip Nitschke -- Timothy E. Quill -- Eli D. Stutsman -- Katheryn L. Tucker -- Dick and Ginny Walters -- Samuel D. Williams -- Individuals opposed to death with dignity laws -- Organizations supporting death with dignity laws -- Organizations opposed to death with dignity laws -- Data and documents -- Data -- Top 10 causes of death in America (1850 - 2015) -- Legislation on assisting suicide (2015) -- National public opinion polls on death with dignity (2014) -- Characteristics of those who used the ODWDA in 2015 -- Characteristics of Oregon patients using ODWDA: cumulative data (1998-2014) -- Family members' view on why patients requested physician-assisted death (2004-2006) -- Documents -- Summary of the 1994 Oregon death with dignity act (ODWDA): requirements -- Janet Reno's statement about ODWDA and the CSA (1998) -- John Ashcroft's memorandum regarding dispensing of controlled substances to assist suicide (2001) -- Pope John Paul II's address, "Life-sustaining treatments and vegetative state: scientific advances and ethical dilemmas" (2004) -- President George W. Bush's signing statement on the Terri Schiavo Case (2005) -- Pope Francis's address "False Compassion": (2014) -- Excerpt from "Dear Brittany": Letter from a terminal brain cancer patient (2014) -- Brittany Maynard's farewell facebook message (2014) -- Excerpts from U.S. Constitution -- Cases impacting the right to die (excerpts) -- Resources -- Introduction -- Books -- Articles -- Right to Die legislation -- Reports -- Some organizations supporting right to die legislation -- Chronology