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“Dr. Haiselden Allows Deformed Baby to Die Rather Than Give It Possibly Lifesaving Surgery”
Dr. Harry “Haiselden called a news conference to announce that, rather than operate on the baby, he would ‘merely stand by passively’ and ‘let nature complete its bungled job.’ By declining to operate, Haiselden… got more Americans than ever before talking about euthanasia... Haiselden demonstrated how support for euthanasia was nurtured by a cultural climate punctuated by science, naturalism, and humanitarian reform.”
(image source: therepphoenixapl.org) -
"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."
(image source: euthanasia.procon.org) -
“National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia Founded”
“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)…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.”
(image source: www.u5.uua.org) -
“Nazi Use of Involuntary Euthanasia Changes Public Perception of Euthanasia in the US”
“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.”
(image source: euthanasia.procon.org) -
"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."
image: harvard.edu.law -
“Supreme Court Rules in Quinlan Case that Respirator Can Be Removed from Coma Patient”
“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.”
(image source: corbisimages.org) -
"Nation's First Aid in Dying Statute Signed into Law in California"
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.
(image source: Herald-Journal 2 Oct 1976) -
“Pope John Paul II Issues Declaration Opposing Mercy Killing”
“Pope John Paul 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.”
(image source: polishamericancenter.org) -
“Hemlock Society Forms”
“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... He enjoyed a remarkable growth in the 1980s that rivaled anything the other U.S. organizations had achieved [with] its official support for active euthanasia and assisted suicide.”
(image source: euthanasia.procon.org) -
“Jack Kevorkian Participates in His First Assisted Suicide”
“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.”
(image source: time.com) -
“Supreme Court Rules in the Cruzan Case that a Person has the Right to Refuse Life Saving Medical Service”
“The case receives national attention, as it is the first right-to-die case that the [United States Supreme] Court has agreed to hear. In 1983, a car accident had left Nancy Cruzan permanently unconscious. Her parents requested to withdraw her feeding tube. The United States Supreme Court ruled that a competent person has a constitutionally protected right to refuse any medical treatment, and Nancy's feeding tube is removed.”
(image source: deathwithdignity.web) -
“Oregon Death with Dignity Act Passed”
“Oregon Death with Dignity Act is passed, becoming the first law in American history permitting physician assisted suicide.”
(image source: deathwithdignity.org) -
"Terri Schaivo Has Her Feeding Tube Removed After Long Court Battle"
“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. Terri Schiavo dies on Mar. 31, 2005, 13 days after her feeding tube is removed.”
(image source: tbihome.org) -
“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 assisted suicide.”
(image source: flickr.com) -
“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 physician aid in dying.”
(image source: csmoniter.com)
