Citation

Evans J. Bioethics 2008; 22(7): 379-387.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00649.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

By concentrating on abortion, the culture wars have avoided facing a crisis about the end of life. This paper explores four themes: (1) the technological transformation of birth and death into matters of decision, not matters of fact; (2) abortion as the nexus of Eros (sex) with Thanatos (death); (3) the real crisis, conveniently masked by our obsession with sex, looming at the end of life, not at its beginning; (4) the surplus-repression that protects us from assuming responsibility for choosing between life and death.