Ancient Greeks and Romans Tend to Support Euthanasia
"In ancient Greece and Rome, before the coming of Christianity, attitudes toward infanticide, active euthanasia, and suicide had tended to be tolerant. Many ancient Greeks and Romans had no cogently defined belief in the inherent value of individual human life, and pagan physicians likely performed frequent abortions as well as both voluntary and involuntary mercy killings. Although the Hippocratic Oath prohibited doctors from giving 'a deadly drug to anybody, not even if asked for,' or from suggesting such a course of action, few ancient Greek or Roman physicians followed the oath faithfully. Throughout classical antiquity, there was widespread support for voluntary death as opposed to prolonged agony, and physicians complied by often giving their patients the poisons they requested." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
"The ancients stressed the voluntary nature of the dying, provided that it was done for the right reasons; for example, to end the suffering of a terminal illness. Indeed, in classical Athens, the city magistrates kept a supply of poison for anyone who wished to die." Michael Manning, MDEuthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, 1998
Hippocrates, author of the Hippocratic Oath
Source: www.howstuffworks.com (accessed May 5, 2009)
1st Century A.D.-Late Middle Ages
During Middle Ages Christians and Jews Tend to Oppose Euthanasia
"There was a remarkable continuity in Church medical ethics regarding suicide and euthanasia between the dawn of Christianity and the late Middle Ages. Medieval references to voluntary death were rare, suggesting that the actual practice of euthanasia had tapered off dramatically since the fall of Rome. Laws in some parts of Europe dictated that a suicide's corpse be dragged through the streets or nailed to a barrel and left to drift downriver. The medieval ethos was distinctly uncongenial to any kind of self-murder." Ian Dowbiggin, PhD A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Catholic theologian and philosopher
Source: www.sciencemusings.com (accessed May 5, 2009)
"The ascendancy of Christianity, with its view that human life is a trust from God, reinforced the views of the Hippocratic school [which forbid euthanasia]. By the twelfth through fifteenth centuries, it culminated in the near unanimity of medical opinion in opposing euthanasia." Michael Manning, MD Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, 1998
"Since ancient times, Jewish and Christian thinkers have opposed suicide as inconsistent with the human good and with responsibilities to God. In the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas espoused Catholic teaching about suicide in arguments that would shape Christian thought about suicide for centuries. Aquinas condemned suicide as wrong because it contravenes one's duty to oneself and the natural inclination of self-perpetuation; because it injures other people and the community of which the individual is a part; and because it violates God's authority over life, which is God's gift. This position exemplified attitudes about suicide that prevailed from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and
Reformation." New York State Task Force on Life and the Law , 1994 When Death Is Sought: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Medical Context(88KB)
17th Century
Common Law Tradition Prohibits Suicide and Assisted Suicide in the American Colonies
"For over 700 years, the Anglo American common law tradition has punished or otherwise disapproved of both suicide and assisting suicide... For the most part, the early American colonies adopted the common law approach. For example, the legislators of the Providence Plantations, which would later become Rhode Island, declared, in 1647, that '[s]elf murder is by all agreed to be the most unnatural, and it is by this present Assembly declared, to be that, wherein he that doth it, kills himself out of a premeditated hatred against his own life or other humor...his goods and chattels are the king's custom.'" Washington v. Glucksberg(63KB) , 1997
17th-18th Century
Renaissance and Reformation Writers Challenge Church Opposition to Euthanasia
"No serious discussion of euthanasia was even possible in Christian Europe until the eighteenth-century Englightment. Suddenly, writers assaulted the church's authoritative teaching on all matters, including euthanasia and suicide... While writers challenged the authority of the church with regard to ethical matters, there was no real widespread interest in the issues of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide during that time." Michael Manning, MDEuthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, 1998
Late 18th Century
American Evangelical Christians Reject Suicide and Euthanasia
"Enlightenment toleration of suicide proved to be temporary. Under the leadership of evangelicals...a vigorous religious counterattack gained momentum as the late eighteenth century drew to a close. The various waves of religious revivalism, starting with the Great Awakening of the mid-1700s, prevented secularists and agnostics on either side of the Atlantic Ocean from generating popular support for taking one's life. These events dovetailed with the Second Great Awakening of intense evangelical fervor in the first years of the nineteenth century and strengthened the condemnation of suicide and euthanasia that stretched back to the earliest days of colonial America.
The rejection of suicide and euthanasia remained firm, even after many of the new states decriminalized suicide in the wake of the Revolutionary War. The majority of Americans rejected suicide's common-law punishment...but no matter how sympathetic they were toward the suicide's family, most Americans stopped far short of condoning self-murder. As late as the antebellum period there existed in the United States a firm consensus...against suicide and mercy killing." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1828
First US Statute Outlawing Assisted Suicide Enacted in New York
The earliest American statute explicitly to outlaw assisting suicide is enacted in New York. It is the Act of Dec. 10, 1828, ch. 20, §4, 1828 N. Y. Laws 19.
"Many of the new States and Territories followed New York's example… Between 1857 and 1865, a New York commission led by Dudley Field drafted a criminal code that prohibited 'aiding' a suicide and, specifically, 'furnish[ing] another person with any deadly weapon or poisonous drug, knowing that such person intends to use such weapon or drug in taking his own life'… By the time the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, it was a crime in most States to assist a suicide… The Field Penal Code was adopted in the Dakota Territory in 1877, in New York in 1881, and its language served as a model for several other western States' statutes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries… California, for example, codified its assisted suicide prohibition in 1874, using language similar to the Field Code's." Washington v. Glucksberg(63KB) , 1997
1870s
Samuel Williams Begins to Publically Advocate Using Morphine and Other Drugs for Euthanasia
"An important milestone in the euthanasia debate was the isolation of morphine in the nineteenth cenutry and its widespread use as an analgesic [a pain-relieving agent]... When the practice of analgesia had become reasonably well established, Samuel Williams, a nonphysician, began to advocate the use of these drugs not only to alleviate terminal pain, but to intentionally end a patient's life... During the late 1800s, Williams' euthanasia proposal received serious attention in the medical journals and at scientific meetings. Still, most physicians held the view that pain medication could be administered to alleviate pain, but not to hasten death." Michael Manning, MDEuthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, 1998
1885
American Medical Association Opposes Euthanasia
The Journal of the American Medical Association attacks Samuel Williams' euthanasia proposal as an attempt to make "the physician don the robes of an executioner." Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD "The History of Euthanasia Debates in the United States and Britain," Annals of Internal Medicine, Nov. 15, 1994
1905-1906
Bills to Legalize Euthanasia Are Defeated in Ohio
"By the turn of the century, medical science had made great strides. As physicians who used the modern scientific method and modern principles of pharmacology consolidated their control over university and medical school training, the euthanasia debate entered the lay press and political forums. In 1905-1906, a bill to legalize euthanasia was defeated in the Ohio legislature by a vote of 79 to 23. In 1906, a similar initiative that would legalize euthanasia not only for terminal adults, but also for 'hideously deformed or idiotic children' was introduced and defeated as well. After 1906, the public interest in euthanasia receded." Michael Manning, MDEuthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, 1998
1915
Dr. Haiselden Allows Deformed Baby to Die Rather Than Give It Possibly Lifesaving Surgery
"In the early hours of 12 November 1915, at Chicago's German-American Hospital, Anna Bollinger gave birth to her fourth child, a seven-pound baby boy...the baby was blue and badly deformed. After conferring with the father, the doctor awakened Harry J. Haiselden, the hospital's forty-five-year-old chief of staff. Haiselden diagnosed a litany of physical defects... He predicted that, without surgery...the child would die shortly...
In a decision whose shockwaves would ripple from coast to coast, and mark a milestone in the history of euthanasia in America, Haiselden advised against surgery. The Bollingers tearfully agreed and, on 16 November, Haiselden called a news conference to announce that, rather than operate, he would 'merely stand by passively' and 'let nature complete its bungled job.' The child died on 17 November, amid growing controversy.
By declining to operate, Haiselden...almost singlehandedly managed to accomplish what other defenders of euthanasia before him had not. He not only got more Americans than ever before talking about euthanasia, but also won endorsements from numerous prominent figures. The publicity surrounding his professional conduct, briefly eclipsing news from World War I, inspired other Americans to speak out in favor of letting deformed infants die for the good of society... Haiselden demonstrated how support for euthanasia was nurtured by a cultural climate punctuated by science, naturalism, and humanitarian reform." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1917
The Black Stork Film Causes Controversy over Infant Euthanasia
"The Black Stork, a feature film from 1917, dramatically expresses the anxieties people had about medicine and disability during this period: disability was equated with disease, doctors claimed absolute authority...
The film was inspired by the sensational case of Dr. Harry Haiselden, a Chicago surgeon who convinced the parents of a newborn with multiple disabilities to let the child die instead of performing surgery that would save its life...
Haiselden's activities brought forth a storm of public controversy in which all of the currently popular attitudes toward disability were expressed. Many prominent thinkers, including Clarence Darrow and Helen Keller, argued that physicians had the right and the duty to decide whether a life was worth living. Although it was widely accepted that doctors should make these decisions and act on them in their private practices, it was rare that the subject was argued in public."
National Public Radio"The Black Stork: Movie Ads," www.npr.org (accessed May 8, 2009)
Advertisement for The Black Stork published in the Chicago Herald Tribune on Apr. 1, 1917
Source: www.npr.org (accessed May 5, 2009)
1930s
Public Support for Euthanasia Increases as US Endures Great Depression
"The dispute over mercy killing, after subsiding in the 1920s, caught fire again in the 1930s, making these years a pivotal juncture in the history of euthanasia in America. With the coming of the Depression and more troubled economic times, Americans began talking again about suicide and controlled dying... Public opinion polls indicated in 1937 that fully 45 percent of Americans had caught up with Harry Haiselden's belief that the mercy killing of 'infants born permanently deformed or mentally handicapped' was permissible." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1935
Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation Society Founded
The Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation Society (VELS) is founded in England by C. Killick Millard, a retired public health physician. Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD "The History of Euthanasia Debates in the United States and Britain," Annals of Internal Medicine, Nov. 15, 1994
1936
Bill to Legalize Euthanasia Defeated in British House of Lords
"The euthanasia debate was not limited to this side of the Atlantic. A bill to legalize euthanasia was debated in the British House of Lords in 1936, but was rejected... The defeat of this bill, along with the outbreak of World War II, the subsequent discovery of the Nazi death camps, and the recognition of the complicity of German physicians in the extermination camps quelled but did not eliminate discussion of the euthanasia question." Michael Manning, MDEuthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Killing or Caring?, 1998
1937
Voluntary Euthanasia Act Introduced in US Senate
Nebraska Senator John Comstock introduces legislation called the Voluntary Euthanasia Act, which calls for the legalization of active euthanasia. It is never voted on but demonstrates an emerging interest in legislating euthanasia. Bryan Hilliard, PhD "The Moral and Legal Status of Physician-Assisted Death: Quality Of Life and the Patient-Physician Relationship," Issues in Integrative Studies, 2000
1938
National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia Founded
On January 16th, 1938 Charles Francis Potter announces the founding of the National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia (NSLE), which is soon renamed the Euthanasia Society of America (ESA).
According to TIME magazine, "he and a sizable group of other notable men believe[d] so strongly in the right of an incurably diseased individual to have his life terminated gently that they... organized a National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia... its trustees included Dr. Clarence Cook Little of the American Society for the Control of Cancer and of the American Birth Control League, and Secretary Leon Fradley Whitney of the American Eugenics Society." TIME Magazine "Potter and Euthanasia," www.time.com, Jan. 31, 1938
1940s
Nazi Use of Involuntary Euthanasia Changes Public Perception of Euthanasia in the US
Urns containing the remains of children euthanised by the Nazis at Spiegelgrund Children's Hospital in Vienna during World War II (The burial took place in Apr. 2002) Source: news.bbc.co.uk (accessed May 5, 2009)
"When the 1940s dawned, many in the euthanasia movement believed it was only a matter of time before euthanasia became legal in the United States...
But euthanasia advocates were in for a surprise... World War II broke out, and as Hitler's war machine Marched eastward across Europe...news of Nazi atrocities against mental patients and handicapped children filtered back to America... As word spread in the late 1940s, the euthanasia movement found itself increasingly on the defensive, scrambling to deny that the form of euthanasia it supported was the same as Nazi murder." Ian Dowbiggin, PhD A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1946
Committee of 1776 Physicians for Legalizing Voluntary Euthanasia Founded
The Committee of 1776 Physicians for Legalizing Voluntary Euthanasia in New York State comes into existence. Bryan Hilliard, PhD "The Moral and Legal Status of Physician-Assisted Death: Quality Of Life and the Patient-Physician Relationship," Issues in Integrative Studies, 2000
1950
World Medical Association Condemns Euthanasia; Poll Shows Declining Support for Physician-Assisted Suicide
The World Medical Association votes to recommend to all national medical associations that euthanasia be condemned "under any circumstances." In the same year, the American Medical Association issues a statement that the majority of doctors do not believe in euthanasia.
"When an opinion poll in 1950 asked Americans whether they approved of allowing physicians by law to end incurably ill patients' lives by painless means if they and their families requested it, only 36 percent answered 'yes,' approximately 10 percent less than in the late 1930s." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1952
Groups Petition the UN to Amend the Declaration of Human Rights to Include Euthanasia
The British and American Euthanasia Societies submit a petition to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to amend the UN Declaration of Human Rights to include "...the right of incurable sufferers to euthanasia or merciful death... Inasmuch as this right is, then, not only consonant with the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration of Human Rights but essential to their realization, we hereby petition the United Nations to proclaim the right of incurable sufferers to euthanasia.
"Eleanor Roosevelt, the Chairperson of the Commission, did not present the petition to the Commission. Marjorie Zucker, PhDThe Right to Die Debate: A Documentary History, 1999
1962
Pauline Taylor Becomes President of the Euthanasia Society of America
Charles Potter dies and theologian Joseph Fletcher assumes Potter's unoffical title as the chief philosopher of the euthanasia movement.
"Fletcher fashions a new rationale for euthanasia based primarily on the notion of patient autonomy."
Pauline Taylor becomes president of the Euthanasia Society of America (ESA).
"Taylor...began the ESA's soul-searching process that led to a major shift in the philosophy for the entire American euthanasia movement. She believed the ESA in the past had overemphasized the soundness of an individual's decision to have his or her life ended if terminally ill and in unbearable pain... Taylor concluded that the time was ripe to...begin convincing the public that letting someone die, instead of resorting to extreme measures, was both humane and ethically permissible." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1965
Donald McKinney Becomes President of the Euthanasia Society of America
Donald McKinney becomes president of the Euthanasia Society of America (ESA).
"Over the next two decades [McKinney] would help to transform the euthanasia movement by leading a sizeable faction opposed to active euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. In the process he eventually concluded...that there was a fundamental distinction between passive and active euthanasia." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1967
First Living Will Written
The first living will is written by attorney Luis Kutner and his arguments for it appear in the Indiana Law Journal. Derek Humphry "Chronology of Euthanasia and Right-to-Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium," www.finalexit.org, Feb. 27, 2005
1968
Harvard Medical School Committee Defines Irreversible Coma as a Criterion for Death
The Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death publishes its report in the Journal of the American Medical Association in August 1968. The committee defines "irreversible coma" as a new criterion for death. According to the committee, a new definition of death was needed because of the great burden that trying to revive irreversibly comatose patients puts on the patients themselves, their families, hospitals and the community. Peter SingerRethinking Life & Death, 1994
1969
Hastings Center Founded
The Hastings Center was founded in 1969 by Daniel Callahan to study ethical problems in medicine and biology and was instrumental in the development of bioethics as a discipline. The original focus of the center concerned death and dying, genetics, reproductive biology and population issues, and behavior control. Daniel Callahan, PhD "The Hastings Center and the Early Years of Bioethics," Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Mar. 1999
1970s
Idea of Patients' Rights Gains Acceptance
In the early 1970s, the widely accepted authority of the medical profession came under concerted attack in the name of patient autonomy. This challenge has been embodied in the progressive enumeration of patient rights, especially the right to refuse medical care, even life-sustaining care. The goals have been to remove physicians from decision making and to let individual patients weigh the benefits and burdens of continued life. Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD "The History of Euthanasia Debates in the United States and Britain," Annals of Internal Medicine, Nov. 15, 1994
1972
US Senate Holds First National Hearings on Euthanasia
The US Senate Special Commission on Aging (SCA) holds the first national hearings on death with dignity entitled "Death with Dignity: An Inquiry into Related Public Issues.”
"The SCA hearings, chaired by Senator Frank Church, proved to be a superb opportunity for professionals and laypeople to discuss a range of issues relating to aging and terminal illness, including the evolving doctor-patient relationship and the difficulties about defining death itself. Overall, the hearings showed that Americans were becoming increasingly unhappy about 'the brutal irony of medical miracles,' which extended the dying process only to diminish patient dignity and quality of life. Church insisted that the hearings were not about euthanasia, but try as he might, he could not keep the subject from surfacing." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
1973
American Hospital Association (AHA) Adopts Patient's Bill of Rights
The American Hospital Association adopts a "Patient's Bill of Rights" which recognizes the right of patients to refuse treatment. Marjorie Zucker, PhDThe Right to Die Debate: A Documentary History, 1999 AHA Patients Bill of Rights (32KB) , 1973
1974
Society for the Right to Die Founded; First US Hospice Opens
"The founding of the Society for the Right to Die [formerly the Euthanasia Society of America] marked a renewed dedication to pursuing the legalization of active euthanasia, a reenergized campaign to seek euthanasia laws through the political process." Ian Dowbiggin, PhDA Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America, 2003
The first American hospice opens in New Haven, Connecticut. Bryan Hilliard, PhD "The Moral and Legal Status of Physician-Assisted Death: Quality Of Life and the Patient-Physician Relationship," Issues in Integrative Studies, 2003
Mar. 31, 1976
Supreme Court Rules in Quinlan Case that Respirator Can Be Removed from Coma Patient
21-year-old Karen Ann Quinlan had fallen into an irreversible coma at a party in 1974. After doctors declared that she was in a "persistent vegetative state," her parents went to court to have her respirator removed.
The New Jersey Supreme Court rules in 1976 that Karen Quinlan can be detached from her respirator.
The case becomes a legal landmark, drawing national and international attention to end-of-life issues. In Re Quinlan(106KB) , 1976
Oct. 1, 1976
Nation's First Aid in Dying Statute Signed into Law in CA
California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signs the California Natural Death Act into law and California becomes the first state in the nation to grant terminally ill persons the right to authorize withdrawl of life-sustaining medical treatment when death is believed to be imminent. New York Times "California Grants Terminally Ill Right to Put an End to Treatment," Oct. 2, 1976
1977
Eight States Have Right to Die Bills
By 1977, eight states -- California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, North Carolina, and Texas -- had signed right-to-die bills into law. Sue WoodmanLast Rights: The Struggle over the Right to Die, 2000
1980
World Federation of Right to Die Societies Forms; Hemlock Society Forms
The World Federation of right to Die Societies was founded in 1980. Its membership included dozens of organizations from countries around the world that were concerned with euthanasia and the the right to die. World Federation of Right to Die Societies "Ensuring Choices for a Dignified Death, www.woldtd.net (accessed May 9, 2009)
Derek Humphry forms the Hemlock Society, a grassroots euthanasia organization, in Los Angeles.
"Humphry ranks as one of the preeminent pioneers of the American euthanasia movement... Hemlock enjoyed a remarkable growth in the 1980s that rivaled anything the other U.S. organizations had achieved... What also distinguished Hemlock from CFD [Concern for Dying] and the SRD [Society for the Right to Die] was its official support for active euthanasia and assisted suicide." Ian Dowbiggin, PhD A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America,2003
Hemlock Society logo. Source: www.bookdoctor.com(accessed May 6, 2009)
May 5, 1980
Pope John Paul II Issues Declaration Opposing Mercy Killing
Pope John Paull II issues the Declaration on Euthanasia, opposing mercy killing but permitting increased use of painkillers and a patient's refusal of extraordinary means for sustaining life. Marjorie Zucker, PhDThe Right to Die Debate: A Documentary History, 1999
Dec. 1984
American Medical Association Supports Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Prolonging Medical Treatment in Certain Circumstances
The American Medical Association publishes two reports, "Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Prolonging Medical Treatment, and "Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Prolonging Medical Treatment -- Patients' Preferences." The reports detail the American Medical Association's formal position that with informed consent, a physician can withhold or withdraw treatment from a patient who is close to death, and may also discontinue life support of a patient in a permanent coma. American Medical Association "Opinion 2.20: Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment," www.ama-assn.org, (accessed May 12, 2009)
1987
California State Bar Becomes First Public Body to Support Physician Aid in Dying
The California State Bar Conference passes Resolution #3-4-87 to become the first public body to approve of physician aid in dying. Derek Humphry "Chronology of Euthanasia and Right-to-Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium," www.finalexit.org, Feb. 27, 2005
1988
Unitarian Universalist Association Passes Resolution in Support of Aid in Dying
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations passes a national resolution titled "The Right to Die With Dignity." The resolution favors aid in dying for the terminally ill, thus the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations becoms the first religious body to affirm a right to die. Derek Humphry "Chronology of Euthanasia and Right-to-Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium," www.finalexit.org, Feb. 27, 2005 "The Right to Die With Dignity" (45 KB), 1988
Jan. 8, 1988
Journal of the American Medical Association Publishes Article By Hospital Worker Who Euthanized a Patient
The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes an anonymous article entitled "It's Over Debbie." The article describes how a gynecology resident in a large private hosptial had injected a patient suffering from painful ovarian cancer with an overdose of morphine. The article stirs controversy and debate, and many condemn the resident for what he had done. Jonathan Moreno, PhDArguing Euthanasia: The Controversy Over Mercy Killing, Assisted Suicide, and the "Right to Die," 1995
1990s
Public Opinion Surveys Show More Than Half of Americans Support Physician-Assisted Death
By the early 1990s, the growing interest in the right-to-die movement became apparent in public opinion surveys. These showed that more than half of the American public was now in favor of physician-assisted death and membership of the Hemlock Society rose dramatically to reach 50,000... With increased public interest, the stage was set for an explosive swell of activity: in the courts, in professional medical journals and institutions, and, most significantly, in the homes of the American people. Sue WoodmanLast Rights: The Struggle over the Right to Die, 2000
June 4, 1990
Jack Kevorkian Participates in His First Assisted Suicide
Dr. Jack Kevorkian pictured on the May 31, 1993 cover of Time magazine
Source: www.time.com (accessed May 5, 2009)
Jack Kevorkian, MD, assists Janet Adkins, a Hemlock Society member, in committing suicide in Michigan. Adkins' death is the first of many suicides in which Dr. Kevorkian assists. Wesley Smith, JDThe Slippery Slope From Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder, 1997
June 25, 1990
Supreme Court Rules in Cruzan Case that a Person Has the Right to Refuse Life Saving Medical Service
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health comes before the United States Supreme Court. The case receives national attention, as it is the first right-to-die case that the court has agreed to hear. In 1983, a car acccident had left Nancy Cruzan permanently unconscious (by most accounts). Her parents requested to withdraw her feeding tube, but the Missouri Supreme Court refused. The United States Supreme Court ruled that a competent person has a constitutionally protected right to refuse any medical treatment, but upholds Missouri's right to insist on clear and convincing evidence as to the wishes of patients who do not have decision-making capacity. In light of the ruling, the Cruzans' lawyer goes back to court with new evidence as to Nancy's prior wishes, and Nancy's feeding tube is removed. She dies on December 26th, 1990. Wesley Smith, JDThe Slippery Slope From Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder, 1997
Nov. 5, 1990
US Congress Passes Patient Self-Determination Act
Congress passes the Patient Self-Determination Act, requiring hospitals that receive federal funds to tell patients that they have a right to demand or refuse treatment. It takes effect the next year. Patient Self Determination Act (10.5 KB) , Nov. 5, 1990
1991
Choice in Dying Formed
Choice in Dying is formed by the merger of two aid in dying organizations, Concern for Dying and Society for the Right to Die. The new organization becomes known for defending patients' rights and promoting living wills, and grows in five years to 150,000 members. Derek Humphry "Chronology of Euthanasia and Right-to-Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium," www.finalexit.org, Feb. 27, 2005
Nov. 1991
Washington Voters Defeat Physician-Aid-in-Dying Initiative
Washington State introduces ballot Initiative 119 to legalize "physician-aid-in-dying." The initiative is defeated. John Dombrink, PhD and Daniel Hillyard, PhDDying Right: The Death with Dignity Movement, 2001
Nov. 3, 1992
California Death with Dignity Act Is Defeated
California voters defeat Proposition 161, the California Death with Dignity Act, which would have allowed physicians to hasten death by actively administering or prescribing medications for self administration by suffering, terminally ill patients. The vote is 54-46 percent. Wesley J. Smith, JDForced Exit: The Slippery Slope from Assisted Suicide to Legalized Murder, 1990
Apr. 1993
Compassion in Dying Formed
Compassion in Dying is founded in Washington state to counsel the terminally ill and provide information about how to die without suffering and 'with personal assistance, if necessary, to intentionally hasten death.' The group sponsors suits challenging state laws against assisted suicide. Compassion & Choices "Aid-In-Dying Timeline," www.compassionandchoices.org (accessed May 12, 2009)
May 1994
New York Task Force Publishes Report Against Physician-Assisted Suicide
The Oregon Death With Dignity Act is passed, becoming the first law in American history permitting physician-assisted suicide. Oregon Death With Dignity Act (79.4KB) , 1994
Apr. 30, 1997
President Clinton Prohibits Using Federal Funds for Assisted Suicide
President Clinton signs the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, which prohibits the use of federal funds to cause a patient's death. Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997(35.1KB) , 1997
June 26, 1997
US Supreme Court Rules There Is No Right to Die
The Supreme Court rules in Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill that there is not a constitutional right to die. Washington v. Glucksberg(63KB)and Vacco v. Quill(36KB) , 1997
Nov. 1997
Oregon Voters Keep Death With Dignity Act
Oregonians vote 60 to 40 percent in favor of keeping the Death With Dignity Act. Oregon Department of Human Services "Death With Dignity Act History," www.oregon.gov, Mar. 2006
Nov. 1998
Jack Kevorkian Assists a Suicide on National Television
Jack Kevorkian, MD, is a guest on 60 Minutes, during which he shows a videotape of him administering a lethal injection to Thomas Youk, a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. People v. Kevorkian (148KB) , 2001
Michigan introduces Proposal B to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The proposal fails by a vote of 29% to 71%. John Dombrink, PhD and Daniel Hillyard, PhDDying Right: The Death with Dignity Movement, 2001
1999
Jack Kevorkian Convicted of Murder
A Michigan court convicts Jack Kevorkian, MD, for the murder of Thomas Youk and sentences him to 10-25 years in prison. People v. Kevorkian (148KB) , 2001
2000
Maine Death with Dignity Act Is Defeated
Maine introduces a ballot initiative, the Maine Death with Dignity Act, that reads "Should a terminally ill adult, who is of sound mind, be allowed to ask for and receive a doctor's help to die?" The initiative is defeated by a margin of 51% to 49%. John Dombrink, PhD and Daniel Hillyard, PhDDying Right: The Death with Dignity Movement, 2001
Attorney-General Aschroft Challenges the Oregon Death with Dignity Act
US Attorney-General John Ashcroft asks the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the finding of a lower court judge that the Oregon Death With Dignity Act of 1994 does not contravene federal powers. Derek Humphry "Chronology of Euthanasia and Right-to-Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium," www.finalexit.org, Feb. 27, 2005
2005
Terri Schiavo Has Her Feeding Tube Removed after Long Court Battle
Protest against the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube outside the US courthouse featured on the Mar. 22, 2005 front cover of the Tampa Tribune
Source: www.tbihome.org (accessed May 6, 2009)
The Terri Schiavo case garners national media attention. Terri Schiavo had been brain damaged since 1990 when, aged 26, her heart stopped beating temporarily and oxygen was cut off to her brain. In 1998, her husband Michael Schiavo filed a petition to have her feeding tube removed. Seven years of legal battles ensued between Michael Schiavo and Terri's parents, the Schindlers. After a Florida Circuit Judge ruled that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be removed and the Florida Supreme Court overturned "Terri's Law," a law intended to reinsert the feeding tube, the United States Supreme Court refuses for the sixth time to intervene in the case. Terri Schiavo dies on Mar. 31, 2005, 13 days after her feeding tube is removed. BBC "Timeline: Terri Schiavo Case," Mar. 31, 2005
Jan. 17, 2006
US
Supreme Court Upholds Oregon's Death With Dignity Act in Gonzales v. Oregon
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion in Gonzales v. Oregon, holds that the Controlled Substances Act does not authorize the Attorney General to ban the use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide. Oregon's Death With Dignity Law is upheld. Gonzales v. Oregon (406KB) , Jan. 17, 2006
June 1, 2007
Jack Kevorkian Released on Parole
Jack Kevorkian, MD, the pathologist sentenced on Apr. 13, 1999 to 10-25 years in prison for his role in the euthanasia of Thomas Youk is paroled after serving 8 years. New York Times "Kevorkian Is Released from Prison," June 1, 2007
Feb. 19, 2008
Luxembourg Legalizes Physican-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
The Luxembourg parliament adopts a law legalizing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Reuters, "Luxembourg Parliament Adopts Euthanasia Law," www.reuters.com, Feb. 20, 2008
Nov. 4, 2008
Washington Death with Dignity Act Is Passed
Washington voters approve the Washington Death with Dignity Act (Initiative 1000) making Washington the second US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Washington Death with Dignity Act(952KB), Nov. 4, 2008
Dec. 5, 2008
State of Montana Legalizes Physician-Assisted Suicide
Montana district judge Dorothy McCarter rules in the case of Baxter v. State of Montana that Montana residents have the legal right to physician assisted suicide, thus making it the third US state to legalize physican aid in dying. Baxter v. State of Montana(1.5MB) , Dec. 5, 2008
Dec. 31, 2009
State of Montana Affirms Physician-Assisted Suicide Not Against Public Policy
The Montana Supreme Court affirmed 4-3 in the case of Baxter v. State of Montana that physician-assisted suicide is not "against public policy" in Montana. The Court further ruled that state law protects doctors in Montana from prosecution for helping terminally ill patients die. The court declined to rule on the larger question of whether physician-assisted suicide is a right guaranteed under Montana's Constitution. Opinion/Order of the Montana Supreme Court on Baxter v. State of Montana(357KB) , Dec. 31, 2009
Nov. 6, 2012
Massachusetts "Death with Dignity" Ballot Measure Defeated
Massachusetts voters rejected the "Death with Dignity" ballot measure by less than 60,000 votes. The measure would have legalized physician-assisted suicide by allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dosage of medicine to people with less than six months to live. CBS News, "Election 2012: How Pot, Porn and Punishment Initiatives Fared with Voters," www.cbsnews.com, Nov. 7, 2012
May 20, 2013
Vermont Becomes Fourth State the Allow Physician-Assisted Suicide
Vermont’s Governor Peter Shumlin signed the "End of Life Choices” bill into law, which is the first time physician-assisted suicide has been made legal in the United States via the legislative process. Like the laws in Oregon and Washington, Vermont’s law implements safeguards to govern physicians who are now allowed to prescribe death-inducing medication to terminally ill residents of the state. However, those safeguards expire on July 1, 2016 at which point physician-assisted suicide will be overseen by professional practice standards already in place to govern physician conduct. Reuters, "Vermont Passes Law Allowing Doctor-Assisted Suicide,” www.reuters.com, May 20, 2013
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, Dec. 5, 2008