Quantcast
After Brittany Maynard’s suicide, Intelligence Squared debates ‘death with dignity’ – Metro US

After Brittany Maynard’s suicide, Intelligence Squared debates ‘death with dignity’

After Brittany Maynard’s suicide, Intelligence Squared debates ‘death with
Getty Images

The death last weekend of 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, who chose to end her life after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, has reignited the national debate about assisted suicide.

But is the procedure, in the words of the American Medical Association’s code of ethics, “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer”? It’s already legal in five states – should it expand, as advocates would like to see, to allow the terminally ill “death with dignity”?

“Legalize Assisted Suicide,” a forum hosted by Intelligence Squared U.S. on Nov. 13 at the Kaufman Center (129 W. 67th St.), will explore this issue with four debaters: philosopher Peter Singer, Columbia University professor Andrew Solomon, palliative care physician Baroness Ilora Finlay and MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics associate director Dr. Daniel Sulmasy. Two of the debaters come with intensely personal stories involving loved ones who have had to face this decision.

Tickets are $40, or $12 for students; the debate will also be streamed online.