This week, Wesley J. Smith posted a lengthy review of my book, Liberalism's Troubled Search for Equality: Religion and Cultural Bias in the Oregon Physician-Assisted Suicide Debates, in the conservative journal First Things. As a progressive, I don't see eye to eye with Smith on many issues (e.g., although I hate these labels, I often fall on the "pro-choice" side of many social issues like abortion). But we agree that legalized physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in the context of our current health care system--which leaves 48 million Americans without health insurance and many persons with disabilities without the care they need--puts vulnerable patients at risk. I'm grateful to Smith for the review, which reflects a careful reading of my argument.

I've included an excerpt here, with a link to the full article. Smith concludes the review by stating that "Jones’ logically argued and precisely aimed brief against assisted suicide from a liberal philosophical perspective—no call to respect the sanctity of human life here—is a distinct service to the broader debate."

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Liberalism’s Troubled Search for Equality

By Wesley J. Smith

Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:30 AM

In Liberalism’s Troubled Search for Equality, Robert P. Jones takes the measure of contemporary assisted-suicide advocacy through a distinctly liberal lens. He has impeccable credentials for this task: He is the director and senior fellow at the progressive think tank Center for American Values in Public Life, given birth by the progressive political-advocacy group People for the American Way. In fact, it is Jones’ fervent liberalism that leads him to declare boldly that legalized assisted suicide violates the principle of “egalitarian justice.”

This is an interesting, and one might even say daring conclusion, particularly given that it conflicts with mainstream thinking of the liberal establishment. This includes the views of liberal guru and philosopher Ronald Dworkin, who has long championed assisted suicide in books, articles, and amicus court briefs.

Jones deeply admires Dworkin, yet he doesn’t hesitate to hoist the philosopher on his own petard by demonstrating that assisted suicide violates Dworkin’s oft-stated principles of egalitarianism, which Jones laments stem from “peculiar inconsistencies within his theory.” Thus, Jones writes not out of animus but devotion to the cause, hoping that, by extricating assisted suicide from other progressive agenda items, he can help his movement take “a critical step on the path toward a more egalitarian liberalism.”

You can read the rest here.

You can buy the book here:

Labels: end of life, equality, health care, liberalism, physician-assisted suicide