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The first living will is written by attorney Luis Kutner and his arguments for it appear in the Indiana Law Journal.
Derek Humphry "Chronology of Euthanasia and Right-to-Die Events During the 20th Century and into the Millenium," www.finalexit.org, Feb. 27, 2005 -
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The Hastings Center was founded in 1969 by Daniel Callahan to study ethical problems in medicine and biology and was instrumental in the development of bioethics as a discipline. The original focus of the center concerned death and dying, genetics, reproductive biology and population issues, and behavior control.
Daniel Callahan, PhD "The Hastings Center and the Early Years of Bioethics," Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Mar. 1999 -
The goals have been to remove physicians from decision making and to let individual patients weigh the benefits and burdens of continued life.
Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD "The History of Euthanasia Debates in the United States and Britain," Annals of Internal Medicine, Nov. 15, 1994 -
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The American Hospital Association adopts a "Patient's Bill of Rights" which recognizes the right of patients to refuse treatment.
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The case receives national attention, as it is the first right-to-die case that the court has agreed to hear. In 1983, a car acccident had left Nancy Cruzan permanently unconscious (by most accounts). Her parents requested to withdraw her feeding tube, but the Missouri Supreme Court refused. The United States Supreme Court ruled that a competent person has a constitutionally protected right to refuse any medical treatment, but upholds Missouri's right to insist on clear and convincing evidence a
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The Supreme Court rules in Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill that there is not a constitutional right to die.
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Oregonians vote 60 to 40 percent in favor of keeping the Death With Dignity Act.
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Jack Kevorkian, MD, is a guest on 60 Minutes, during which he shows a videotape of him administering a lethal injection to Thomas Youk, a man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.
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A Michigan court convicts Jack Kevorkian, MD, for the murder of Thomas Youk and sentences him to 10-25 years in prison.
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photo reference: www.tbihome.org (accessed Nov.14, 2011)
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Washington voters approve the Washington Death with Dignity Act (Initiative 1000) making Washington the second US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
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Montana district judge Dorothy McCarter rules in the case of Baxter v. State of Montana that Montana residents have the legal right to physician assisted suicide, thus making it the third US state to legalize physican aid in dying.
Baxter v. State of Montana