cover image Letting Go: Death, Dying, and the Law

Letting Go: Death, Dying, and the Law

Melvin Urofsky. Scribner Book Company, $22.5 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-684-19344-1

In a penetrating, humane and accessible study, Urofsky ( A Conflict of Rights ) focuses on the role of law in an individual's exercise of his or her ``right to die.'' With arguments based on rights to autonomy, privacy and freedom of expression, the author, a professor of history and constitutional law at Virginia Commonwealth University, advocates such legally binding ``advance directives'' as Living Wills and the use of legal surrogates. Citing such famous courtroom suits as those of Karen Anne Quinlan and Baby Jane Doe, he reviews the powerful influences exerted on those struggling with these issues by religion, ethnic traditions and medical ethics. Ideally, he concludes, the law should not intervene directly, but should ``provide a procedural framework''--here outlined--to guide those charged with decision-making. (May)