The greatest violence and violation of human life is legalization of its disposability and annihilation based on its condition. Such killing, whether of self or another, depicts absolute contradiction and betrayal of the very hypothesis of humanity. It manifests absolute failure to provide due care, and that is inhuman. Human life is who we are. It is the basis of any argument for human rights. There cannot be a right to terminate the existence of the rights bearer. Such a right contradicts the possibility of its own existence. There cannot be dignity in terminating the one in whom dignity resides. There can only be indignity in killing a person. The paradox of legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide represents humanity turned on itself. It is endorsement of existential nihilism and objectification of human life. It is the beginning of the end of humanhood. This book is a critical ethical exploration of mind-sets around euthanasia and assisted suicide to provide clarity, sobriety, and objectivity. The book is really about ontology of human life. Dr. Leonard Tumaini Chuwa is a Catholic priest and scholar working for Ascension as director of spiritual care for the state of Florida. Dr. Chuwa is certified by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC). Chuwa has bachelor of arts degrees in philosophy and theology; master of arts degree in theology and religious studies from John Carroll Jesuit University in Cleveland, Ohio; and a doctor of philosophy degree in bioethics and health-care ethics from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Chuwa is a distinguished public speaker on different bioethical issues. His first book, titled African Indigenous Ethics in Global Bioethics: Interpretation of Ubuntu, was published by Springer Academic Publishing as the first book in a new global bioethics series. Father Chuwa also authored Bioethical False Truths: Egotistic and Relativistic Autonomy vs. Christian and Ubuntu Relational Autonomy.
