About the Book
Court cases in the United States and Canada, and attendant media coverage, have transformed assisted suicide from an unspoken practice to a pressing social issue. Assisted suicide has joined abortion as one of the major and most intractable issues of our time, and recent developments indicate that despite set-backs, an aging population and resultant changes in social values will foster wider acceptance of assisted suicide and its eventual legalization.
Contrary to the impression conveyed by current media coverage, legalization is actually not the central issue regarding assisted suicide. The debate is about sanctioning a current, albeit limited, practice. The debate is about removing criminal prohibitions, not about initiating a practice. Assisted suicide is practiced now regardless of its illegality. The truly important questions are about whether suicide ever makes good sense, whether assisting suicide is ever permissible should if so, what professional ethics should govern its provision.