{"product_id":"at-liberty-to-die","title":"At Liberty to Die","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Ball's arguments are concise, compelling, and backed with considerable case law. This volume is highly recommended for upper-level undergraduates and above in law, philosophy, and the medical humanities interested in the 'right to die' debates. Summing up: Highly recommended.\" —Choice\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\nOver the\u003cbr\u003e\npast hundred years, average life expectancy in America has nearly doubled, due\u003cbr\u003e\nlargely to scientific and medical advances, but also as a consequence of safer\u003cbr\u003e\nworking conditions, a heightened awareness of the importance of diet and\u003cbr\u003e\nhealth, and other factors. Yet while longevity is celebrated as an achievement\u003cbr\u003e\nin modern civilization, the longer people live, the more likely they are to\u003cbr\u003e\nsuccumb to chronic, terminal illnesses. In 1900, the average life expectancy\u003cbr\u003e\nwas 47 years, with a majority of American deaths attributed to influenza, tuberculosis,\u003cbr\u003e\npneumonia, or other diseases. In 2000, the average life expectancy was nearly\u003cbr\u003e\n80 years, and for too many people, these long lifespans included cancer, heart\u003cbr\u003e\nfailure, Lou Gehrig’s disease, AIDS, or other fatal illnesses, and with them,\u003cbr\u003e\ncame debilitating pain and the loss of a once-full and often independent\u003cbr\u003e\nlifestyle. In this compelling and provocative book, noted legal scholar Howard\u003cbr\u003e\nBall poses the pressing question: is it appropriate, legally and ethically, for\u003cbr\u003e\na competent individual to have the liberty to decide how and when to die when\u003cbr\u003e\nfaced with a terminal illness?\u003cbr\u003e\nAt Liberty to Die charts how, the right\u003cbr\u003e\nof a competent, terminally ill person to die on his or her own terms with the\u003cbr\u003e\nhelp of a doctor has come deeply embroiled in debates about the relationship\u003cbr\u003e\nbetween religion, civil liberties, politics, and law in American life.\u003cbr\u003e\nExploring both the legal rulings and the media frenzies that accompanied the\u003cbr\u003e\nTerry Schiavo case and others like it, Howard Ball contends that despite raging\u003cbr\u003e\nbattles in all the states where right to die legislation has been proposed, the\u003cbr\u003e\nopposition to the right to die is intractable in its stance. Combining\u003cbr\u003e\nconstitutional analysis, legal history, and current events, Ball surveys the\u003cbr\u003e\nconstitutional arguments that have driven the right to die debate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New York University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Product","offer_id":54222635172184,"sku":"9780814791042","price":79.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/at-liberty-to-die","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}