On Assisted Suicide
On Assisted Suicide
The Dignity Series
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Assisted suicide and euthanasia are being legalized or at least debated throughout much of the world today. But should suicide ever be assisted? When someone is suffering and no longer wants to live, and asks another to help him end his life, what is the right response? In this powerful volume in Word on Fire’s Dignity Series, Stephanie Gray Connors engages both the mind and the heart in answering these increasingly urgent questions. Through ten proposed principles to help guide the conversation, On Assisted Suicide will draw readers into the mysteries of joy and suffering, life and death, and the unconditional dignity of the human person.
Why dignity? Because human dignity (dignitas, the worthiness of each person) is the foundation of all human society. Jacques Maritain, the Catholic philosopher who helped draft the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, affirmed this in saying, “The privilege connected with the dignity of the person is inalienable, and human life involves a sacred right.”
In a time of political polarization, social division, and the ongoing “culture wars,” the Dignity Series aims to refocus our attention on human dignity. The series enters into the great mystery of human life with wonder and reverence, and unflinchingly faces grave threats to human dignity, many of them ignored in the culture today.
Each volume in the series will examine one of those threats, drawing on rational argument, spiritual sources, and above all, personal stories that take readers into the lived experience on the frontier of the issue. This broad mix of ideas and approaches acknowledges that a wide variety of backgrounds and personalities shape how we interact with these questions—and that if a book is to help us grow, it has to stir our hearts as well as activate our minds.
The Dignity Series emerges out of and points back to the whole-life ethic of Catholic social teaching, which is grounded in the principle of human dignity. “Social justice,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man” (CCC 1929). And that dignity, on the Catholic reading, can only finally rest on our status as creatures made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26). However, these books are for anyone—Catholic or non-Catholic, religious or nonreligious—who wrestles with these issues and longs to see a more informed and considerate approach to them.
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What People are Saying
“What do we do with the problem of suffering? This perennial question is addressed with wisdom and brilliance by Gray Connors, who has dedicated her life to helping others see the value of every single life, no matter their struggles. A must-read for anyone who hopes to make our world better and more loving.”
—Lila Rose, Founder and President of Live Action, Author of Fighting for Life
“For all of human history, we’ve used stories to teach the most important lessons in life. In this tradition, Gray Connors uses stories to help us grasp that the burden of suffering is to be shared by friends, that all life is to be cherished, and that this is the only truly humane way for us to accompany those crushed by the travails of life.”
—Curtis Martin, FOCUS Founder
“Stephanie Gray Connors provides a refreshing contribution to what has become a messy debate. She wastes no time in getting to the point: this is not about assisted suicide itself, or even death, but the fear of meaningless suffering. In her clear and approachable way, she shows the reader how it is reasonable and possible to suffer well, finding strength and joy in the unexpected places of vulnerability and human limitations—things we already have in plenty. Far from being an idealistic theoretician, Stephanie uses both logic and examples of ordinary persons who have created extraordinary life and love—not in spite of but out of their own suffering. There is much more that could be said about this gem of a book! Stephanie has that rare gift of common sense, which is so uncommon in fact, and this was, although sometimes painful, a most rewarding read.”
—Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix
“Stephanie Gray Connors’ compassionate tone and razor sharp intellect makes her one of today’s best defenders of pre-born human life. That’s why I’m so glad she’s taken these gifts and applied to them to a sadly neglected subject in pro-life apologetics: the defense of the elderly, terminally ill, and people with disabilities from assisted suicide and euthanasia. If you want to have a ‘road-map’ for approaching this subject, then I highly recommend this outstanding work by one of the world’s best pro-life advocates.”
—Trent Horn, apologist and author of Persuasive Pro-life
“Stephanie Gray Connors has long been one of the clearest, sharpest, most winsome pro-life advocates in the world, mostly for her work debating abortion. In this excellent new book, she applies those same gifts to the topic of assisted suicide. The book’s strong, pithy principles—such as ‘we should alleviate suffering without eliminating the sufferer’—offer ways to reframe the debate, and each principle is illustrated by moving stories. But this is more than a book on ethics or apologetics. It adds profound reflections on the meaning of suffering, and how to find hope and purpose even in the darkest circumstances of life. If every person read this book, the culture of life would flourish. We’d stop assisting suicides, and start celebrating the beauty and significance of all lives, especially those who suffer greatly.”
—Brandon Vogt, Founder of ClaritasU and Senior Publishing Director at Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
Table of Contents
Series Introduction
Introduction
Chapter 1: Start by Asking “What?”
Chapter 2: If Humans Are Equal, We All Ought to Get Suicide Prevention
Chapter 3: Suffering Unleashes Love
Chapter 4: We Can Alleviate Suffering without Eliminating Sufferers
Chapter 5: Human Dignity Is Unconditional
Chapter 6: Human Flourishing Occurs in a Context of Connection
Chapter 7: We Ought to Celebrate Being
Chapter 8: Some of the Best Things in Life Come When We Release Control
Chapter 9: Not All Choices Are Equal, But They Create a Ripple Effect Either Way
Chapter 10: Beauty and Creativity Are Transformative
Epilogue
Notes