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.”