American Euthanasia Movement

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the reform of progressivism roll up America like a mat, euthanasia rapidly became one of the focuses of social reform.The American euthanasia movement was born. Searching by nearly a century, after the 1990s, the form of rejecting or removing medical treatment passive euthanasia was almost admitted by the law of the USA.The law of Oregon and Washington admitted the physician-assisted suicide one after another. With the ever-fiercer controversy of euthanasia, the American euthanasia movement will go forward. At present, studies in the area of American euthanasia movement, foreign scholars have made a very significant achievement, but many domestic scholars research it from medical science and ethnics short on history. So take the historical view to study the ideology and developing process of the American euthanasia movement, then analysis the controversy of euthanasia, is the primary intention of this paper.The full text is divided into six chapters:The first chapter is a preface, elaborates the selected topic reason to the article, and recalls this topic's research situation of domestic and foreign scholarsTo trace the origin of ideology of American euthanasia is the primary coverage of the second chapter. According to the general view of domestic and foreign scholars, the author defines the intension and extension of euthanasia, then review the developing process of early euthanasia. American reforms of many fields provided conditions for the euthanasia movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The third chapter is the main part of this paper, Following the time and symbolizing the events, the author relate and analyze the formation and development of American euthanasia movement. It was born in 1915, the event of little Bollinger triggered flame wars all around the USA, this term was a blueprint stage. The 1930s was the key stage of the American euthanasia movement. In 1938, the Euthanasia Society of America was found. From 1940s to 1950s, the American euthanasia movement went through a depressing stage, the so called Nazi Euthanasia unprecedentedly attacked American euthanasia movement. Form 1960s and 1970s, the American euthanasia movement received a developing stage, in 1974, the Euthanasia Society of America change its name into Society for the Right to Die officially. Guiding ideology was quite changed at this stage, form then on the development of American euthanasia movement was quite different, it was use for the development of next stage.The forth chapter elaborated the breakout in legislation of American euthanasia movement. Enacting the was based on the failure of the Washington Act and the California act. Analysis the content and implement of act and the course of struggle, it is not fortuitous that the state of Oregon became the first place of admitting euthanasia in America.The fifth chapter laid heavy stress on morality and legislation to discuss the controversy of American euthanasia. Refer to the morality of euthanasia, both side persist in their own opinions and neither would concede, but the controversy of legislation has not been limited to the problem of whether the euthanasia can be legitimated or not.The last chapter is the epilogue.a century passed, the American euthanasia movement has its own characteristics. Early of the 21st century Washington became the second state which had admitted the euthanasia in America.The join of Washington as if make us take a more optimistic attitude towards the American euthanasia movement. It is a tendency that euthanasia breaks national boundaries then become a part of everybody's life, undoubtedly, it need more ordeal.