This Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will decide whether to legalize assisted suicide, an agenda against which I have advocated energetically since 1993. During much of that time, I often asked myself the “why now?” question: Two hundred years ago, when far more people died in agony, few argued on behalf of mercy killing. Yet today—a time in which medical science can substantially alleviate most pain and end-of-life care works miracles of palliation—the notion that a “good death” comes from committing suicide resonates with large swaths of the public.
I could never get my head around the irony. But a few years ago a book written by the bioethicist Yuval Levin cleared up my confusion.
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