The History of Doctor Assisted Suicide

Doctor assisted suicide goes back to the 5th century in ancient Greece and Rome before Christianity and was tolerated until the 12th century when Christianity with its view that human life is a trust from God. Doctor assisted suicide was viewed as wrong till the 17th century when writers challenged the authority of the church with regard to ethical matters, though there was no real wide spread interest during the time. An important milestone in the euthanasia debate was the isolation of morphine in the nineteenth century and its widespread use as an analgesic. In the early hours of 12 November 1915, at Chicago's German-American Hospital, Anna Bollinger gave birth to her fourth child, a seven-pound baby boy...the baby was blue and badly deformed. The head surgeon Harry J. Haiselden, advised against surgery and let the baby die. Those were a few of the first incidents that made people realize doctor assisted suicide was something that should be considered as an option for people. My information came from http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000022