This essay will present in detail and with documentation the formation, growth and declared goals of the euthanasia movement in our country. The Euthanasia Society of America was founded in 1938 with the purpose of proposing legislation to allow voluntary active euthanasia. Three former presidents and one treasurer also favored active and involuntary euthanasia, according to Yale Kamisar in Euthanasia and the Right to Death. In 1967 the society's name was changed to the Euthanasia Educational Council and it officially supported passive and voluntary euthanasia. Many of its members, however, favored active euthanasia. Joseph Fletcher, a member of the advisory board of the Euthanasia Educational Council, argued in the Atlantic Monthly (April 1968) that a parent has the right to choose active, involuntary euthanasia for his or her child with Down syndrome. The Euthanasia Educational Council has held a series of conferences since 1968 with the publication of proceedings showing support not only for active, voluntary euthanasia but also for active, involuntary euthanasia if society was prepared to accept it. In Attitudes Toward Euthanasia, a publication of the Third Euthanasia Conference (1970), Dr. Marvin Kohl, Ph.D., stated: "In some situations, especially in some cases of euthanasia, morality demands the killing of the innocent » (Kohl 6). And Dr. Joseph Fletcher noted that he welcomed the fact that Judge Russell Frankel of the Federal District Court in New York and others had adopted this statement for public use: "We should make a study to test whether suicide and other laws can be changed to allow victims of terminal illnesses to avoid the unwanted prolongation of life with assistance and without penalty" (I......middle of paper...... individual to be a person. Proponents of euthanasia propose redefining "person" to exclude certain classes of human beings; that human beings must pass certain tests before being declared persons with inalienable rights, e.g. rationality, interaction with others, affectivity and creation of culture". WORKS CITED: Cruzan v. Harmon, 110 Supreme Ct. 2841 (1990) Euthanasia News. Euthanasia Educational Council Newsletter (Winter 1978) Fletcher, Joseph, M.D. Humanhood: Essays in Biomedical Ethics. Np:Prometheus Books, 1979Hummel,R. Hospital Progress, June 1976Kohl, Marvin,MD Attitudes Toward Euthanasia, a publication of the Third Euthanasia Conference (1970)Means, Prof. Cyril. Dilemmas of euthanasia, publication of the fourth conference on euthanasia Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113, and Doe v. Bolton, 410 US. 179