When Is It Right to Die? by Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni Eareckson Tada has long been a hero to many Christians and disabled individuals.  Paralyzed in a diving accident as a teen, she has been, for decades, a tireless advocate for people with disabilities and an inspiring witness to Christ.  She has updated her 1992 book When Is It Right to Die?: Suicide, Euthanasia, Suffering, Mercy.  The updated edition, When Is It Right to Die?: A Comforting and Surprising Look at Death and Dying, is even more timely than it was in 1992.  The growing acceptance of euthanasia demonstrates that "the unthinkable became tolerable.  And then acceptable.  And then legal.  And now, God help us, applaudable."

Tada addresses a variety of scenarios: otherwise physically healthy individuals who, due to depression, life's circumstances, or general disappointments with life; disabled individuals who, while not in immediate danger of death, nevertheless struggle with day-to-day living due to their disabilities; and terminally ill individuals, who, in the opinions of their health care providers, will die inevitably and soon.

None of these scenarios is easy, and we have perhaps known or heard of people in each of these categories who have chosen to end their own life or choose an assisted suicide.  Tada writes of her own struggles, but, more than that, writes about how she has been able to help others see the value in continuing to live.

One source of inspiration for Tada was Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist who was sent to Auschwitz, where he saw the worst of humanity and witnessed the depths of desperation.  Prisoners felt like there was nothing more to expect from life.  But he wrote that helping them was a "question of getting them to realize that life was still expecting something from them."  Someone's decision to die is just a decision for himself or herself; it will powerfully impact many people around him or her.

For that third group, those whose lives are coming to an end, Tada does not believe that extending life is always the right choice.  "Allowing a person to die when he or she is, in fact, dying is justified."  She continues, "Dying begins when a person rapidly and irreversibly deteriorates.  This is a person for whom death is imminent, a person who is beyond reasonable hope of recovery.  Such people have a right to not have death postponed.  The line of distinction is not so much between life and death as it is between life and dying."  The details vary for every individual, but I appreciated Tada's sensitivity and her helpful perspective on end-of-life decisions.

Tada writes that she longs for heaven, that she longs for the whole, healthy body she will have.  Yet she knows that God expects more from the life he has given her.  The millions of lives touched by her writing, songs, films, letters, and testimony attest to her giving all that life expects of her.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!