Nightingale Alliance® Euthanasia Opposition - Resources, End of Life Alternatives

    Society's flirtation with active euthanasia is as old as medicine itself. The 2,400-year old Hippocratic Oath, which until recently was routinely taken by all U.S. physicians, condemns active euthanasia by stating: "I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it nor will I make a suggestion to this effect." This oath was a mainstay of Western medical ethics for centuries and had the crucial effect of assuring that the physician would always be a healer, not one who would take an action to kill another person.

    The first widespread manifestation of euthanasia in the 20th century was championed by the most respectable physicians in Nazi Germany who carried out the death of 275,000 men, women, and children with mental illness, mental retardation, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and old age. When revelation of the extent of the Nazi atrocities and killings during the Holocaust produced outrage in the world community, euthanasia became a dormant issue for several decades.

Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in the United States

1970s
    Many factors account for the reappearance of support for euthanasia. Much of it stems from acceptance of the principle that some categories of people can be killed for the convenience of others. By the 1970s, legislation attempting to legalize active euthanasia appeared in several of our United States.

One "right to die" bill introduced in Wisconsin would have allowed any person aged seven or older to request death, and allow any person aged fourteen or older to "terminate the life of the requestor."
In Montana, a bill was introduced allowing an adult to request death by lethal means, and providing protection for the person fulfilling that request. The individual requesting death could change his or her mind once, but could not prevent death from being carried out if a second request was followed by a change of desire.
Neither of these measures received action from the respective state legislatures.

1980s

Society was not ready for measures such as those introduced in Wisconsin and Montana, regarded as too extreme, so many state legislatures and "right-to-die" groups focused very successfully in the 1980s on the recognition of advance documents (or directives) to give legal authority to withholding or withdrawing life support systems from an individual when that individual became incompetent. These documents vary greatly from state to state and cannot automatically be considered "euthanasia" documents.

1988

Groups such as the Hemlock Society openly advocated assisted suicide and active euthanasia in the United States.

Featured stories appeared in some of the most prestigious medical journals. The January 8, 1988 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association featured an anonymous account of a gynecology resident who gave a lethal overdose of morphine to a young woman with cancer named "Debbie." Debbie was described as "sleepy" when she originally made her vaguely worded request to "end it all" to the resident, who had never seen or cared for her before the incident.
The Hemlock Society attempted to place a referendum question on the ballot to legalize active euthanasia in the state of California. The effort failed when the required number of signatures was not obtained.

1990

In Michigan, Jack Kevorkian, inventor of the so-called "suicide machine," assisted a woman recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease to commit suicide. Initial attempts to charge Kevorkian failed even though he was brought to trial on several occasions.

1991

The Hemlock Society successfully gained enough signatures to place a proposal to legalize euthanasia on the November ballot in the State of Washington. Initiative 119, called "aid in dying," attempted to amend the state's living will law to create a "fundamental right" to be assisted to die if the person was terminally ill, had signed a death request or made an oral request, and was conscious and mentally competent. Since the right was to be considered "fundamental," legal observers were certain that a proper case brought to court would extend this perceived "benefit" for competent patients to those that were incompetent. Death by lethal injection was allowable under the proposed Washington law. Despite seemingly heavy initial support in the polls, Initiative119 failed by a 54% - 46% margin.
In the March 7, 1991 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Timothy Quill described his role in assisting a woman suffering from leukemia to commit suicide by advising her as to how many sleeping pills to take. Although his actions were illegal, a grand jury failed to indict Quill.
The concept of suicide as a "good" reached a low point when Derek Humphry, the head of the Hemlock Society, saw his book Final Exit, become a best seller in 1991. In this book, Humphry teaches his readers various means by which they can end their own lives.

1992

Californians Against Human Suffering collected sufficient signatures to place a measure on the November ballot to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia, using lethal injections as one means to carry out death. California voters rejected the measure by a 54% - 46% vote.

1994

A group called Oregon Right to Die was successful in obtaining enough signatures to place a measure to legalize physician-assisted suicide on the November ballot in the State of Oregon. The measure amended Oregon's living will law to allow an individual to request a prescription from a physician for drugs to commit suicide. Unlike earlier measures in Washington and California, the proposed Oregon law prohibited the use of lethal injection by the physician. The measure passed by a 51% - 49% margin and the State of Oregon became the first governmental body in the world to legalize physician-assisted suicide. A battle in federal courts ensued which blocked the measure from going into effect until 1997.
In Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington, a U.S District Judge struck down Washington's ban on assisted suicide as unconstitutionally infringing on the rights of the terminally ill. The opponents of euthanasia immediately appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
In Vacco v. Quill, a U.S. District Judge in New York ruled that New York's state law banning assisted suicide was constitutional. The proponents of euthanasia appealed the decision to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The New York State Task Force on Life and the Law issued a unanimous report rejecting calls for the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. The task force was heavily influenced by the impact legalization would have on the poor, older people, minorities, and those with disabilities.

1996

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in the case of Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington, invented a newly found constitutional "right" to physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, thus striking down Washington's law prohibiting assisted suicide.
In New York, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals struck down New York's law prohibiting assisted suicide in the case of Vacco v. Quill. The court stated that New York's law violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by allowing some terminally ill adults to hasten death through removal of life support systems, but prohibited other terminally ill adults from seeking and taking lethal doses of drugs prescribed by a doctor.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the decisions by the Ninth and Second Circuit U.S. Courts of Appeals favoring physician-assisted suicide in Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill.
The Clinton administration filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, taking the position that states have the right to ban physician-assisted and asking the court to overturn the decisions of the Ninth and Second U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.

1997

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Oregon law legalizing physician-assisted suicide, exhausting all of the legal avenues that had kept the law out of effect for three years. Another measure was placed on the Oregon ballot to reverse the earlier vote in 1994 to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The measure failed by a 60% - 40% vote, thus protecting Oregon's law to allow physician-assisted suicide. After the reversal measure failed, and with all court challenges exhausted, the Oregon law allowing physician-assisted suicide went into effect.
By an overwhelming margin, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a law that prohibits the use of federal funds to carry out physician-assisted suicide. Known as the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997, the bill was signed into law by President Clinton.
In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill unanimously ruled that there is no constitutional "right" to physician-assisted suicide, thus reversing the earlier decisions of the Ninth and Second U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. The Supreme Court left it up to individual states to pass laws relating to assisted suicide.
The Chief Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a ruling that "delivering, dispensing or prescribing a controlled substance with the intent of assisting a suicide would not be under any current definition of a 'legitimate medical purpose.'" This opinion was in response to a congressional inquiry.
The Hemlock Society declared its support for legalizing euthanasia for mentally incompetent patients who had not requested death.
Jack Kevorkian announced that he would begin harvesting organs and conducting lethal experiments on the bodies of his assisted suicide victims. During 1997 alone, Kevorkian assisted the deaths of 28 persons.
The Florida Supreme Court, by a 5 - 1 vote, held that Florida's ban on assisted suicide does not violate the right to privacy under Florida's Constitution.

1998

A measure to legalize physician-assisted suicide similar to the law enacted in Oregon was placed on the November ballot in the state of Michigan by a group called Merian's Friends. It failed by the overwhelming margin of 70% - 29%.
At the federal level, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno announced that the Justice Department would permit federally controlled dangerous drugs to be used for lethal prescriptions to assist suicide, overturning a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ruling to the contrary.
The first use of Oregon's law allowing assisted suicide was reported. The Oregon State Health Commission added assisted suicide to its list of services to be funded under the Oregon Health Plan.
On CBS, 60 Minutes aired a tape in which Jack Kevorkian was shown injecting a 52-year old man with several substances in order to kill him. A prosecutor in Michigan subpoenaed the tape and subsequently charged Kevorkian with three felony counts: first-degree murder, assisting a suicide, and delivering a controlled substance without a medical license.
From June 4, 1990 to September 17, 1998, Kevorkian assisted in 86 suicides that have been documented. He claims to have assisted in over 100 suicides.

1999

The Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 was introduced in the U.S. Congress to promote aggressive pain management while prohibiting the use of controlled substances for the purpose of carrying out assisted suicide and euthanasia. It passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Judiciary Committee, but there was no vote in the U.S. Senate.
A jury unanimously found Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance for his actions in killing a 52-year old man which was videotaped and subsequently aired on CBS's 60 Minutes. Kevorkian was ordered to serve a prison term.

2000

The citizens of Maine rejected a November 2000 ballot measure sought by Mainers for Death with Dignity, similar to the Oregon law to legalize physician-assisted suicide, by a 51% - 49% vote.
The New Hampshire State Senate overwhelmingly defeated legislation to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
Derek Humphry of the Hemlock Society succeeded in having his video, "Final Exit," aired on a Hawaiian public access station. The video demonstrated how to commit suicide utilizing a plastic bag.
A Michigan judge denied Jack Kevorkian's third request for release from prison sought on grounds of poor health.

2001

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft restored the ruling originally made by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that "narcotics and other dangerous drugs controlled by federal law may not legally be used to assist suicide or for euthanasia in any part of our nation." The State of Oregon immediately challenged Ashcroft's directive and a federal judge suspended it pending judicial review.
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine analyzed 69 patients who were assisted in suicide by Jack Kevorkian. Only 17 were found to be terminally ill and the remaining 52 experienced a recent decline in health but were not terminal. Almost 75% were women, most of whom were divorced or never married. In five cases, autopsies were not able to confirm any disease at all.
The Alaska Supreme Court unanimously rejected a claim that the Alaska law prohibiting assisted suicide is a violation of a constitutional "right."

2002

A federal judge in Oregon struck down a directive by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft that it is not legal to use drugs controlled by federal law to assist suicide or carry out euthanasia. The federal government appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The Hawaii House of Representatives approved a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The Hawaii Senate voted 14 - 11 to kill the measure.

2003

Legislation was introduced to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Hawaii, Wisconsin, Vermont, and Arizona. Vermont and Hawaii Governors stated that they would likely veto a law to legalize in those states. Legislation was introduced in North Carolina to prohibit assisted suicide.
Oral arguments were held before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the Ashcroft ruling that existing federal drug law bans the use of controlled substances to carry out assisted suicide in Oregon.
Oregon reported that 129 patients requested and received approval of physician-assisted suicide from 1998 to 2002. During that five year period, “losing autonomy” was the most frequent reason given for an assisted suicide request.

2004

After considerable debate, the Vermont Medical Association decided to oppose efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Vermont. Disability rights groups added their opposition to the measure.
The Chairmen of both the Vermont House and Senate Health and Welfare Committees dealt a blow to efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide by announcing they would not take action on proposed legislation to legalize.
Legislation was introduced to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Wyoming.
A New Jersey nurse confessed to killing up to 40 patients over his 16 year nursing career at hospitals and nursing homes in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Posted on March 10, 2005.