What is the difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia?
Assisted suicide occurs when a person suffering from an incurable illness or chronic intense pain intentionally kills himself with the help of another individual.
For example, a doctor may prescribe drugs with the understanding that the patient plans to use them to overdose fatally. Or a doctor may insert an intravenous needle into the arm of a patient, who then pushes a switch to trigger a fatal injection.
Assisted suicide differs from euthanasia, in which someone other than the patient ends the patient's life as painlessly as possible.
Euthanasia may be active, such as when a doctor gives a lethal injection to a patient. But it can also be passive, in cases where a physician doesn't resuscitate a patient whose heart has stopped. Or it can happen when a doctor removes life-support equipment.
BRIEF HISTORY
When people mention the term "euthanasia,” the first thing most people think of is the epic assisted suicide battle of the 1990s starring Jack "Doctor Death" Kevorkian. But the issue of whether humans and doctors have the right to help others die has existed since before the birth of Christ. The Hippocratic Oath, which was written in the fourth century B.C., states: I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.
The Final Exit arrestees appear, like Kevorkian, to be prepared and planning for a fight. The group has a web site explaining its cause and its leader Jerry Dincin says he considers Final Exit members "angels of mercy."
Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization (ERGO)
FINAL EXIT
FINAL EXIT DVD PART I
To help understand the history of assisted suicide here are some of the most important events throughout the years.
- 1906: The first eutanasia bill is drafted in Ohio, but fails to become law.
- 1935: World’s first euthanasia society is founded in London, England.
- 1938: The Euthanasia Society of America is founded in New York. It was renamed the Society for the Right to Die in 1974.
- 1967: The first livin will is written by attorney Louis Kutner.
- 1969: Elisabeth Kubler publishes “On Death and Dying,” prompting public debate on treatment of the dying.
-1973 The American Hospital Association creates a model Patient Bill of Rights, which includes the right to refuse medical treatment.
- 1974 The first hospice opens in New Haven, Conneticut.
- 1976: The California Natural Death Act is the first statute in the nation to give legal standing to living wills and protects physicians from being sued for failing to treat incurable diseases. Ten other states pass natural death laws the same year.
- 1980: Pope John Paul II issues “Declaration in Euthanasia” opposing mercy killing, but supporting the right to refuse extraordinary means for sustaining life.
- 1984: The Netherlands Supreme Court approves voluntary euthanasia under certain conditions.
- 1988: The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations passes a national resolution in favor of allowing the terminally ill to decide when to die, making it the first religious body to affirm a right to die.
- 1990: Dr. Jack Kevorkian assists in the death of Janet Adkins, a middle aged woman with Alzheimer’s disease. By November 1998, Kervorkian had helped 120 people die.
- 1990: US Supreme Court’s ruling on the Nancy Cruzan case recognizes that competent adults have a constitutionally protected liberty to refuse medical treatment.
-1990: Congress passes the Patient Self-Determination Act, which requires hospitals that receive federal funds to tell patients they have a right to demand or refuse treatment.
- 1994: By this year, all 50 states and the District of Columbia recognize some form of advance directives.
- 1996: A Michigan jury acquits Kevorkian of violating a state law banning assisted suicides.
- 1997: Oregon becomes the first and only state to legalize physician assisted suicide. Voters had approved the Death with Dignity Act by referendum in 1994, but due to legal challenges the law did not take effect until October 1997.
- 1998: Kevorkian is sentenced to 10-25 years in prison for the 2nd degree murder of Thomas Youk.
- 2002: Voluntary euthanasia and physician assisted suicide law takes effect in the Netherlands and Belgium.
- 2005: Terri Schiavo dies March 31 nearly two weeks after doctors removed the feedint tube that sustained her for more than a decade. The national debate over whether she should have been kept alive may spur new legislation on end of life issues.
Source
“Chronology of Euthanasia and Right to Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium” February 2005, Euthatasia Research and Guidance Organization.
Written by Yan Paul Burgos
Written by Yan Paul Burgos
