Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides? Abortion, Neo-Natal Care, Assisted Dying, and Capital Punishment

441 Pages·2012·2.24 MB·English

by  Sheldon Eckland-Olson

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72222 Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?:
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Abortion, Neonatal Care, Assisted
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Issues of life and death such as abortion, assisted suicide, capital punish-
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ment, and others are among the most contentious in many societies.
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Whose rights are protected? How do these rights and protections change
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over time and who makes those decisions? Based on the author’s award-
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winning and hugely popular undergraduate course at The University of
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Texas, this book explores these questions and the fundamentally socio-
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logical processes that underlie the quest for morality and justice in human
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societies. The author’s goal is not to advocate any particular moral “high
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ground,” but to shed light on the social movements and social processes
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that are at the root of these seemingly personal moral questions.
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9 Sheldon Ekland-Olson is the Audre and Bernard Centennial Professor
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1 the College of Liberal Arts and Executive Vice President and Provost.
2 He is the winner of numerous teaching awards, and one of his classes
3 was once listed among the 10 Hottest Courses in the Nation. His previous
4 publications include The Rope, The Chair and the Needle, Texas Prisons,
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Contemporary Sociological Perspectives
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Who Decides?: Abortion,
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Neonatal Care, Assisted Dying,
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and Capital Punishment
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First published 2012
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2012 Taylor & Francis
The right of Sheldon Ekland-Olson to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-415-89246-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-89247-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-18227-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Adobe Caslon, Trade Gothic and Copperplate Gothic by
Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon
Printed and bound in the United States of America by
Edward Brothers, Inc.
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My son Scott and his wife Jennette
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My daughter Brooke and her husband Miki
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To:
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My wonderfully perfect grandchildren
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Grant, Reid, Mia, Blake, Ana, Jessica, and Téa
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7 Preface ix
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Acknowledgments xxiii
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1 A Single Question 1
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3 PART I
4 A Moral System Evolves 13
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6 2 An Exclusionary Movement is Born 15
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8 3 Legal Reform to Eliminate Defectives 33
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2 5 Crystallizing Events and Ethical Principles 94
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PART II
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The Early Moments and Months of Life 113
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viii BRIEF CONTENTS
7 Man’s Law or God’s Will 134
8 Inches from Life 164
9 Should the Baby Live? 185
PART III
The Boundaries of Tolerable Suffering 205
10 Limits to Tolerable Suffering 207
11 Alleviating Suffering and Protecting Life 229
12 God, Duty, and Life Worth Living 255
13 Assisted Dying 272
PART IV
Taking Life and Inflicting Suffering 303
14 Removing the Protective Boundaries of Life 305
15 A Campaign to Stop the Executions 329
16 The Pendulum Swings, the Debate Continues 356
17 Lessons Learned 373
Notes 379
Index 415
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Acknowledgments xxiii
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9 1 A Single Question 1
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A Moral System Evolves 1
1 The Early Moments and Months of Life 3
2 The Boundaries of Tolerable Suffering 6
3 Taking Life and Inflicting Suffering 9
4 The Single Question 11
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The material covered travels over a varied landscape—eugenics, abortion,
6 neonatal care, assisted suicide, lynching, and capital punishment. The
7 single common theme is assessed social worth. In each case, the focus is
8 upon two deeply important moral imperatives: life is sacred and should
be protected. Suffering, once detected, should be alleviated. Comparing
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these otherwise distinct topics, we ask a single question: How do we
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go about justifying the violation of these deeply important, perhaps
1 universal, moral imperatives, while holding tightly to their importance?
2 The short answer is this: with empathy and logic, we draw boundaries
3 and we resolve dilemmas. From time to time, science, technology, and
crystallizing events disturb, clarify, and inform existing understandings
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of the implied sense of social worth. New resolutions of dilemmas and
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definitions of life’s protective boundaries are called for. In this manner,
6 moral systems evolve. They do so along a jagged and often contentious
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x DETAILED CONTENTS
PART I
A Moral System Evolves 13
2 An Exclusionary Movement is Born 15
Some Lives Are More Worthy Than Others 15
Eugenics Becomes a Duty 17
A Base of Operation 21
Framing the Agenda 24
Branching Out 28
The Criteria for Exclusion 29
The foundation of the Eugenics Movement in the United States is
reviewed. This movement was grounded in the work of Charles
Darwin. It was shaped and advanced by a small, interconnected
network of well-regarded intellectuals, philanthropists, and political
leaders. It soon reached coast to coast and took on national
implications.
3 Legal Reform to Eliminate Defectives 33
How to Limit Defectives 33
A Moral Entrepreneur Reviews the Landscape 36
Framing a Legitimized Logic of Exclusion 41
A Receptive Exclusionary Climate 43
Mobilizing Resources and Networks of Support 47
The Legal Framework Clarifies 48
A Landmark Case is Contrived 51
The Floodgates Open 59
Public-Health Measures Go Terribly Wrong 60
A major objective of the Eugenics Movement was to develop a model
law that would be adopted nationwide. After several attempts, a basic
template was agreed upon in the early 1920s. The State of Virginia was
a leader. In 1927, the Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, legitimized
Virginia’s statute following a contrived trial and appeal. Numerous states
soon adopted similar statutes. In 1933, the newly formed government of
Adolph Hitler took note and adopted a close approximation of the laws
passed in the United States. Some three years later, the model law’s
author, Harry Laughlin, was given an honorary degree from Heidelberg
University in recognition of his work on racial cleansing.
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