Background

The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of euthanasia, which derives from the Greek for "easy death," is "the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy." This present-day definition differs from that of the classical Greeks, who considered euthanasia simply "one mode of dying." To the Greeks, euthanasia was a rational act by people who deemed their lives no longer useful. That these individuals sought the help of others to end their lives was considered morally acceptable.

The movement to legalize euthanasia in England began in 1935 with the founding of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society by such well-known figures as George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, and H. G. Wells. In 1936 the House of Lords (one of the houses in the English Parliament) defeated a bill that would have...