The Politics of Death
Since the Karen Ann Quinlan case, in 1975, the right to life and the right to die have become central to policy debates from abortion to health care. Jill Lepore examines the consequences.
Peter Boyer examines the politics of end-of-life care. The "death panel" lie took hold because it touched something real: America's unwillingness to discuss how we want to die. Doctors keep patients alive at enormous cost, families are paralyzed by guilt, and the conversation never happens.