ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the end-of-life choices available to the terminally ill. As Kleespies (2004) noted, when death is near, many in our society struggle with the dilemma of whether to fight on strenuously with the hope of a reprieve, if not a cure, or to attempt to bow out gracefully with the acknowledgment that meaningful life is essentially over. In fact, major sociocultural movements have formed around one side of this dilemma or the other. In this context, we have organized the chapter so that we first discuss the choices available to those terminally ill individuals who might wish to die, and we then discuss the choices available to those terminally ill persons who might wish to prolong life, even though their circumstances might be dire. Our discussion includes the major issues, problems, and potential conflicts related to each choice.
