title: Who decides? The connecting thread of euthanasia, eugenics, and doctor-assisted suicide.
abstract: Throughout recorded history, a series of seemingly unrelated ideas have been consistently intertwined: suicide, euthanasia, infanticide, eugenics, genocide and, most recently, the practice termed physician-assisted suicide. From Plato and Hippocrates to a pair of twentieth-century American physicians named Haiselden and Kevorkian, an examination of history shows these disparate notions always involve two troublesome questions: Which lives are not worth living? And who will decide? The same examination of history teaches that separating the worthy from the not worthy is a very dangerous proposition, especially for those whose lives are deemed marginal.
authors.affiliation: 155 W. 70th St., New York, NY 10023, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cheyfitz
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D005053:Eugenics / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history*; D049690:History, Ancient; D049711:History, Modern 1601-; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians; D011788:Quality of Life; D012297:Right to Die / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history*; D013727:Terminal Care; D014481:United States