© 2016 by Wesley J. Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Encounter Books, 900 Broadway, Suite 601, New York, New York, 10003.
First American edition published in 2000 by Encounter Books. First paperback edition published in 2002 by Encounter Books, an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc., a nonprofit, tax exempt corporation. Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
SECOND PAPERBACK EDITION
Interior page design and composition: BooksByBruce.com
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:
Smith, Wesley J., author.
Culture of death: the age of “do harm” medicine / Wesley J. Smith. — 2nd edition.
p.; cm.
ISBN 978-1-59403-856-3 (ebook)
I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Withholding Treatment—ethics. 2. Bioethical Issues. 3. Euthanasia—ethics. 4. Tissue and Organ Procurement—ethics. 5. Value of Life. WB 60]
R724
174.20973—dc23
2015028083
OTHER BOOKS BY WESLEY J. SMITH
The Lawyer Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Client Survival
The Doctor Book: A Nuts and Bolts Guide to Patient Power
The Senior Citizens’ Handbook: A Nuts and Bolts Approach to More Comfortable Living
Winning the Insurance Game (co-authored with Ralph Nader)
The Frugal Shopper (co-authored with Ralph Nader)
Collision Course: The Truth about Airline Safety (co-authored with Ralph Nader)
No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America (co-authored with Ralph Nader)
Forced Exit: Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and the New Duty to Die
Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America
Power over Pain: How to Get the Pain Control You Need (co-authored with Eric M. Chevlen, MD)
Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World
A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement
The War on Humans
To Ralph Nader, friend, mentor, visionary, great American.
No author writes a book in a vacuum. All of us who struggle to find the right words, sentences, and paragraphs—whether writing nonfiction, as here, or fiction—are assisted invaluably in our work by sources, colleagues, editors, friends, and family.
I want to thank everyone who willingly shared their ideas, perspectives, and experiences with me, whether in the original version of this book and/or this revised edition—many knowing that I would be critical of their viewpoints. (Please forgive me if I have left anyone out.) These include George A. Agich, Marshall Bedder, James L. Bernat, William J. Burke, Ira Byock, Arthur Caplan, Eric Chevlen, Tom A. Coburn, Carl Cohen, Diane Coleman, Marion Danis, Vincent Fortanasce, Roland Foster, Renée C. Fox, Jeffrey I. Frank, Michael Franzblau, Lisa Gigliotti, Carol Gill, Frederick K. Goodwin, Kathy S. Guillermo, Gregory Hamilton, Kathy Hamilton, John Hardwig, Nat Hentoff, William Hurlbut, Dianne Nutwell Irving, Jennifer Lahl, Albert R. Jonsen, Leon R. Kass, John Keown, David Kilgour, C. Everett Koop, Kit Costello, George Krausz, Richard D. Lamm, Herbert London, Tom Lorentzen, Joanne Lynn, John Morse Luce, Nettie Mayersohn, Alice Mailhot, Mary Meehan, Diane Meier, Gilbert Meilaender, Steve Miles, William Newsom, Mark O’Brien, Adrian R. Morrison, D. S. Oderberg, F. Barbara Orlans, Robert D. Orr, Edmund D. Pellegrino, Mark Pickup, David Prentice, Tom Regan, Sharon M. Russell, Barbara Sarantitis, Dame Cecily Saunders, Cary Savitch, Bobby Schindler, Amil E. Shamoo, Vera Hassner Sharav, D. Alan Shewmon, Janie Siess, Dick Sobsey, Edward Taub, Nancy Valko, Robert M. Veatch, Gregor Wolbring, Sidney Wolfe, and Stuart J. Youngner. Also, thanks to those people who were so helpful but asked to remain anonymous.
A hearty appreciation to my wonderful friends and colleagues who do such good and important work combating assisted suicide and medical utilitarianism with the Patients Rights Council: Rita Marker, Mike Marker, Kathi Hamlon, Robert Hiltner, Jason Negri, and Nancy Minto. You have profoundly influenced my life in ways I can never repay.
My heartfelt appreciation to all my pals and colleagues at the Discovery Institute, for the faith they have shown in my work and support over these many years: Bruce Chapman, Steve Buri, Steve Meyer, John West, Richard Sternberg, Rob Crowther, David Klinghoffer, Ann K. Gauger, Jay Richards, Janine Dixon, and the rest of the gang.
I want to thank everyone at Encounter Books, especially my publishers past and present, Peter Collier (who also did a splendid job editing the original work) and Roger Kimball, as well as Katherine Wong. Thanks too for the great edit of this revised edition, Dave Baker at Super Copy Editors.
Finally, my deepest love and gratitude to friends and family who put up with me with such patience and eye-rolling good cheer, especially: Dean and Gerda Koontz; Mark and LaRee Pickup; Rita and Mike Marker; John and Kathi Hamlon; William and Erica Hurlbut; Tom Lorentzen; Susan Lauffer; Daniel and Jennifer Lahl; Bruce and Valerie Schooley; Bradford William Short; Richard and Leann Doerflinger; David and Diane Prentice; Bobby Schindler; my priest, Fr. John Karcher, and Matushka Eva; and James and Patricia Shinn. My love to the Saunders family, South Carolina, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Florida Branches: Jerry and Barbara; Jim and Vickie; Jennifer; Jeremiah and Sara and their children, Patrick, Connor, and Aidan; Stephen and Leslie; Rebecca and Jonathan Shulman; Eric; and Joshua. Undying devotion to my beautiful mother, Leona Smith—still going strong—and most of all, to the joy of my life and the source of so much love and laughter, Debra J. Saunders, wife and total sweetheart.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Harsh Medicine
Chapter 2: Life Unworthy of Life
Chapter 3: The Price of Autonomy
Chapter 4: Creating a Duty to Die
Chapter 5: Organ Donors or Organ Farms?
Chapter 6: Biological Colonialism
Chapter 7: Toward a “Human Rights” Bioethics
Endnotes
Index
This book had its genesis when the former editor of Encounter Books, Peter Collier, approached me to write about the modern bioethics movement. Immediately