To Gently Leave This Life
Welcome to the 2018 Updates Edition of To Gently Leave This Life: The Right To Die. Five years ago, when I was researching and writing this book, I anticipated many more states and countries to have passed assisted dying legislation. How can it be, so many voices near and away, crying into the night in unbearable pain, pleading for a good death, a peaceful death, a compassionate death. For people who are suffering from a terminal or incurable illness, the option of a peaceful passing is the issue at the forefront of modern society. Assessing the quality of life, and allowing patients who suffer from debilitating pain and dependence on others to gently leave this life, gives people a dignified alternative.
I began contemplating end-of-life issues after witnessing my mother's slow and painful death from cancer. Only six states and the District of Columbia have passed Death With Dignity laws since the first edition of this book was published. Only one more country, Canada, has legalized voluntary euthanasia. In 2014, the front-page story of Brittany Maynard – who was dying from brain cancer and forced to relocate to Oregon for a merciful death – seemed to reaffirm the public dialogue regarding an individual's right-to-die. In 2015, I was stunned when my brother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and I chronicled our anguish in Traveling in and Out of Heaven. When I wrote about Karen Quinlan, I could not have fathomed watching my own brother being attached to a respirator, as tears flowed down my cheeks, not knowing if I'd ever hear his voice again. All I could think of was Karen Quinlan trapped to that gurgling respirator in 1975. My tears were for her, as well. There's a new chapter in these Updates, about Professor Sean Davison, who had been on trial for murdering his mother. He helped her to die because she begged him to - her suffering had become excruciating. At the end, she somehow managed to smile and say, "You are a wonderful son."
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I began contemplating end-of-life issues after witnessing my mother's slow and painful death from cancer. Only six states and the District of Columbia have passed Death With Dignity laws since the first edition of this book was published. Only one more country, Canada, has legalized voluntary euthanasia. In 2014, the front-page story of Brittany Maynard – who was dying from brain cancer and forced to relocate to Oregon for a merciful death – seemed to reaffirm the public dialogue regarding an individual's right-to-die. In 2015, I was stunned when my brother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and I chronicled our anguish in Traveling in and Out of Heaven. When I wrote about Karen Quinlan, I could not have fathomed watching my own brother being attached to a respirator, as tears flowed down my cheeks, not knowing if I'd ever hear his voice again. All I could think of was Karen Quinlan trapped to that gurgling respirator in 1975. My tears were for her, as well. There's a new chapter in these Updates, about Professor Sean Davison, who had been on trial for murdering his mother. He helped her to die because she begged him to - her suffering had become excruciating. At the end, she somehow managed to smile and say, "You are a wonderful son."
To Gently Leave This Life
Welcome to the 2018 Updates Edition of To Gently Leave This Life: The Right To Die. Five years ago, when I was researching and writing this book, I anticipated many more states and countries to have passed assisted dying legislation. How can it be, so many voices near and away, crying into the night in unbearable pain, pleading for a good death, a peaceful death, a compassionate death. For people who are suffering from a terminal or incurable illness, the option of a peaceful passing is the issue at the forefront of modern society. Assessing the quality of life, and allowing patients who suffer from debilitating pain and dependence on others to gently leave this life, gives people a dignified alternative.
I began contemplating end-of-life issues after witnessing my mother's slow and painful death from cancer. Only six states and the District of Columbia have passed Death With Dignity laws since the first edition of this book was published. Only one more country, Canada, has legalized voluntary euthanasia. In 2014, the front-page story of Brittany Maynard – who was dying from brain cancer and forced to relocate to Oregon for a merciful death – seemed to reaffirm the public dialogue regarding an individual's right-to-die. In 2015, I was stunned when my brother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and I chronicled our anguish in Traveling in and Out of Heaven. When I wrote about Karen Quinlan, I could not have fathomed watching my own brother being attached to a respirator, as tears flowed down my cheeks, not knowing if I'd ever hear his voice again. All I could think of was Karen Quinlan trapped to that gurgling respirator in 1975. My tears were for her, as well. There's a new chapter in these Updates, about Professor Sean Davison, who had been on trial for murdering his mother. He helped her to die because she begged him to - her suffering had become excruciating. At the end, she somehow managed to smile and say, "You are a wonderful son."
I began contemplating end-of-life issues after witnessing my mother's slow and painful death from cancer. Only six states and the District of Columbia have passed Death With Dignity laws since the first edition of this book was published. Only one more country, Canada, has legalized voluntary euthanasia. In 2014, the front-page story of Brittany Maynard – who was dying from brain cancer and forced to relocate to Oregon for a merciful death – seemed to reaffirm the public dialogue regarding an individual's right-to-die. In 2015, I was stunned when my brother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and I chronicled our anguish in Traveling in and Out of Heaven. When I wrote about Karen Quinlan, I could not have fathomed watching my own brother being attached to a respirator, as tears flowed down my cheeks, not knowing if I'd ever hear his voice again. All I could think of was Karen Quinlan trapped to that gurgling respirator in 1975. My tears were for her, as well. There's a new chapter in these Updates, about Professor Sean Davison, who had been on trial for murdering his mother. He helped her to die because she begged him to - her suffering had become excruciating. At the end, she somehow managed to smile and say, "You are a wonderful son."
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940149057634 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Elaine Feuer |
| Publication date: | 10/29/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 116 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
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