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    The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die
    The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die
    The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die
    Ebook476 pages7 hours

    The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die

    By Katie Engelhart

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    “A remarkably nuanced, empathetic, and well-crafted work of journalism, [The Inevitable] explores what might be called the right-to-die underground, a world of people who wonder why a medical system that can do so much to try to extend their lives can do so little to help them end those lives in a peaceful and painless way.”—Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker

    More states and countries are passing right-to-die laws that allow the sick and suffering to end their lives at pre-planned moments, with the help of physicians. But even where these laws exist, they leave many people behind. The Inevitable moves beyond margins of the law to the people who are meticulously planning their final hours—far from medical offices, legislative chambers, hospital ethics committees, and polite conversation. It also shines a light on the people who help them: loved ones and, sometimes, clandestine groups on the Internet that together form the “euthanasia underground.”

    Katie Engelhart, a veteran journalist, focuses on six people representing different aspects of the right to die debate. Two are doctors: a California physician who runs a boutique assisted death clinic and has written more lethal prescriptions than anyone else in the U.S.; an Australian named Philip Nitschke who lost his medical license for teaching people how to end their lives painlessly and peacefully at “DIY Death” workshops. The other four chapters belong to people who said they wanted to die because they were suffering unbearably—of old age, chronic illness, dementia, and mental anguish—and saw suicide as their only option.

    Spanning North America, Europe, and Australia, The Inevitable offers a deeply reported and fearless look at a morally tangled subject. It introduces readers to ordinary people who are fighting to find dignity and authenticity in the final hours of their lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMar 2, 2021
    ISBN9781250201478
    Author

    Katie Engelhart

    KATIE ENGELHART is a reporter and documentary film producer from Toronto and based in New York City. She is also a National Fellow at New America. Engelhart has worked as a correspondent for VICE News, based in London, and NBC News, in New York. Her writing has appeared far and wide. Formerly, she was a graduate student of history and philosophy at Oxford University. The Inevitable is her first book.

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    • 4/5
      Mostly just my strong feelings… This is an issue near and dear to my heart from the time I was about 12 years old. I get angry when people won’t be helped to die if that’s what they want, for any reason, not just for sure being within 6 months of death.I have zero tolerance for those who try to prevent me from making my own choice to die, whether it’s from fear that abuse could happen or some religious or other belief that suffering is some sort of obligation. I dread being under the control of anyone like that! It’s a really common belief and ..Reading this just increased my anger.Reading this increased my terror. Magnified it. The timeline included at the back of the book was telling. We seem to be in the infancy of allowing people to choose their time of death and to allow deaths without suffering for those who choose it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. For over five decades now I’ve hoped this would not only be made easier but would become easy. Everyone deserves a good death if that’s what we want. We allow it for our dogs and our cats but some humans are keeping that right from other humans. Give me barbiturates when I choose to take them, whether ti be because of cancer, dementia, ALS, extreme poverty, and it doesn’t really matter since I should get to choose when there is too much suffering, physical or mental. I am grateful to all those covered in this book who honor others’ wishes and especially those who try to help when help is needed. For those who disagree, then don’t ever take this action for yourself or others but don’t dictate your beliefs to those who don’t agree with you. Well written and acknowledging all sides. I was interested in the various people that made appearances in this book.

    Book preview

    The Inevitable - Katie Engelhart

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