Part I: Nat Hentoff; Part II: Miguel A. Faria Jr.

The authors of the following two-part viewpoint question the principles of bioethicists who argue that the severely ill should die to relieve society of costly health-care burdens. In Part I, syndicated columnist Nat Hentoff points out that such arguments could wrongly pressure sick and elderly people into believing that they have a duty to die. In Part II, Miguel A. Faria Jr. argues that the concept of a patient’s duty to die undermines the Hippocratic oath and promotes a misguided form of health-care rationing. Faria is editor- in-chief of Medical Sentinel, a publication of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons in Macon, Georgia.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Hentoff, what challenge did former Colorado...