A duty to kill? A duty to die? Rethinking the euthanasia controversy of 1906

Abstract

This essay seeks to chronicle the controversy surrounding euthanasia that came to a head in the United States around 1906, and to situate that debate in a meaningful historical context. An extensive examination of newspaper coverage of the legislative proposals to legalize the practice in Ohio and Iowa reveals that (1) the discourse occurred in a context in which both supporters and opponents of euthanasia generally agreed that the practice already occurred with frequency; (2) the discussion was heavily influenced by a simultaneous controversy surrounding eugenics; and (3) most of the opponents of legalization relied upon practical rather than religious or moral arguments to further their cause.