A Chosen Death: The Dying Confront Assisted Suicide.

• Author: Wolfe, Kathi

At a recent party, I met a doctor who proclaimed himself a liberal. "I'd rather die than be blind," he told me, thinking he was being sympathetic. "I don't see why you people don't commit suicide."

"God day to you, too," I thought, while hastily pursuing more cheerful conversation.

Disconcerting as it was, this encounter didn't surprise me. When I was born, the doctors, on finding that I was blind, apologized to my parents for keeping me alive.

My story isn't unique; it's representative of the way our society tells us that "disability is a fate worse than death."

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Today, you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without reading or hearing about assisted suicide and "the right to die." So I've been thinking about those who believe we who are disabled would be better off dead.

In A Chosen Death, Shavelson has two agendas: to profile five people (three with terminal illnesses and two with disabilities) who wanted help in ending their lives; and to argue for the legalization of assisted suicide. Though Shavelson cares deeply about his subjects and their families, he uses their stories to buttress his argument for "the right to die."

Most books on social issues are filled with jargon and ponderous prose. Shavelson, an emergency-room physician and photojournalist, gives us a well-written, lively book. He uses his skills as a journalist to present his arguments for assisted suicide. We come to know Shavelson's subjects as fully human beings: sometimes likable, occasionally disagreeable; at times brave, more often frightened.

Renee, an emergency disaster planner for the government, and Marry, a mystery writer, were terminally ill from cancer.

Pierre, a circus trapeze artist who had AIDS, planned to kill himself, but died a few hours before.

George, an emotionally troubled but not terminally ill man, was partially paralyzed as a result of two strokes. Depressed, he sought someone to help him kill himself. A competent counselor wanted George to get professional help so that he wouldn't rush to end his life. But George didn't want this sort of help. Instead, he found Sarah, an untrained and emotionally unstable volunteer for a local Hemlock Society chapter, who assisted in his suicide. (George and Sarah are pseudonyms, Shavelson says.)

Shavelson argues that if assisted suicide were legalized, there wouldn't be any "Sarahs" out there rushing to help people commit suicide. Yet many people, including doctors, have a low...