Recommended Books
Foley & Hendin, The Case Against Assisted Suicide, For the Right
to End-of-Life Care. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002
Deadly Compassion by Rita Marker (William Morrow,
1993; Harper/Collins, 1994; Avon, 1995) is available in most public libraries
or can be ordered from the IAETF.
Click here to read an excerpt
from the book jacket and reviews of the book
Forced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized
Murder by Wesley J. Smith. (originally
released in 1997; revised and released by Spence Publishing, 2003)
This book is a broad-based criticism of the assisted suicide/euthanasia
movement.
Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America, by
Wesley J. Smith. This book is a warning about the dangers of the modern
bioethics movement and was named one of the Ten Outstanding Books of the
Year and Best Health Book of the Year for 2001 (Independent Publisher Book
Awards).
Click here to find out more about Wesley J. Smith and his books
Deadly Compassion
From the book jacket:
Ann Humphry's suicide in 1991 made headlines worldwide. One of the reasons her
death was so compelling was her allegation, in her suicide note, that she was
driven to kill herself by her husband, Derek Humphry, co-founder of the Hemlock
Society and author of the number-one best-seller Final Exit.
In Deadly Compassion Rita Marker relates the explosive details of this
tragic death and the dark side of the euthanasia movement. Combining the shocking,
true-life story of Ann's despair and suicide with compelling arguments against
ever allowing the legalization of euthanasia, Rita Marker has written a book
that is disturbing, moving, and thoroughly convincing.
Rita Marker tells Ann's account of her life with Derek Humphry: from their happy
times together co-founding the Hemlock Society to his leaving her after she was
diagnosed with cancer. Here is the story of Ann's terrible guilt after she and
Derek helped her parents kill themselves - with Ann smothering her mother to
death with a laundry bag when the pills didn't work - and her belief that Derek
would allow her no grief and no remorse. And here, too, is the story of a remarkable
friendship. When Ann felt alone and abandoned, she turned to Rita Marker - having
known Rita only as her most vocal opponent on the subject of legalizing euthanasia.
In Deadly Compassion, Rita Marker also explores all of the issues surrounding
euthanasia - and some of the most famous right-to-die cases. She discusses in
depth the career of Jack Kevorkian, who has written articles advocating medical
experiments on death-row prisoners - while they are still alive. And she explains
the ramifications of euthanasia in a country without adequate health insurance,
like America, where people who really want to live might choose death rather
than bankrupt their families.
Deadly Compassion is essential reading for anyone who has misgivings
about giving doctors the right to kill. it is also the story of the senseless
death of a sensitive woman who discovered that her life's work was a dreadful
mistake - and who believed that the man she loved wanted her dead.
*****
What have they said about DEADLY COMPASSION?
"Marker movingly reminds us of the dangers of hubris, not to mention simple
convenience and greed....her main point should sober any of us who easily accept
the arguments about dying to preserve the dignity of life." Washington Post
"Deadly
Compassion is a shocking, eye-opening book." Book-of-the-Month
Club News
"Deadly Compassion is a very disturbing book, plainly and
thoughtfully written." Detroit Free
Press
"Both a warm tribute to a lost friend and a cool
argument by an experienced opponent of euthanasia." Kirkus
Reviews
"Deadly Compassion is more than a
dry debate over euthanasia...Marker is an engaging storyteller and she
effectively states her case against euthanasia." San
Francisco Chronicle
"It is a book for anyone concerned
about life - and death." Oakland Press
"[Marker's]
concern that the distinction between assisted suicide and murder can be
thin is vivid and palpable." Publisher's Weekly
"[Deadly
Compassion] makes a compelling case that what the debate
about 'assisted suicide' has really progressed to is not allowing people
to die, but killing them." Detroit News
"[Deadly
Compassion] is in the end the story of one woman as
a symbol of the debate that has raised hard questions and forced stark
choices in the minds of many. Marker challenges her readers to use Ann
Humphry's life and death to judge what is meant by the 'right' to die." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"...Marker
is an impressive advocate whose views deserve careful consideration. That's
especially urgent now, as Bill and Hillary Clinton struggle to make medicine
more cost-effective." San Francisco Examiner
"To
say that Deadly Compassion is both a distressing and a gripping
book does not convey its force." Quadrant(Australia)
"Deadly Compassion may well fulfill its function
of blunting the campaign of those who believe, along with B.F. Skinner,
that 'many old people, living in pain or as a burden to others, would be
glad to be put to death humanely.'" British Medical Journal
Wesley J. Smith
Award winning author Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery
Institute, an attorney for the International Task Force on Euthanasia and
Assisted Suicide, and a special consultant for the Center for Bioethics
and Culture. In May 2004, because of his work in bioethics, he was named
by the National Journal as one of the nation's top expert thinkers
in bioengineering.
Smith left the full time practice of law in 1985 to pursue a career in
writing and public advocacy. He has authored or co-authored eleven books.
You may find more information about him, his writings and reviews of these
books at www.wesleyjsmith.com.
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