Euthanasia

Abstract

Debates about the ethics of euthanasia date from ancient Greece and\nRome. In 1870, S.D. Williams, a nonphysician, proposed that anesthetics be\nused to intentionally end the lives of patients. Between 1870 and 1936, a\ndebate about the ethics of euthanasia raged in the United States and Britain.\nThese debates predate and invoke different arguments than do debates about\neuthanasia in Germany. Recognizing the increased interest in euthanasia, this\narticle reviews the definitions related to euthanasia, the historical record\nof debates concerning euthanasia, the arguments for and against euthanasia,\nthe situation in the Netherlands, and the empirical data regarding euthanasia\nin the United States.