by SFX (e-mail: [email protected]) [July 28th, 2000]
I usually don't voice my opinion like the rest of you silent lambs but Dr. Kevorkian's arrest for murder is wrong. I am not a proponent of assisted suicide and I am not a proponent of the Christian coalition. I am a proponent of freedom of choice without government, religious groups, or insurance companies invading the sanctity of our personal lives.
Kevorkians arrest is a politically motivated gesture to send a message loud and clear..."We are in control, we will make sure that you are born, work, pay taxes, obey our laws or go to prison, and you will die when we decide to let you die."
The media spin is all to familiar... "Dr. Death prowls the streets of Michigan looking for hapless victims to submit to his lethal injection; this evil satanic monster will be stopped at any cost before it comes knocking on your door!" Oakland county's prosecutors even with the help of national media spin, have yet to find a jury of our peers willing to convict Dr. Kevorkian, but prosecutors relentlessly continue their moral quest believing in all their hearts that they alone know what is best for everybody.
Dr. Kevorkian is an honest compassionate physician who has guts and backbone, who is willing to risk his life and liberty for "our freedom of choice" to die in a humane way if we are terminally ill and choose not to needlessly suffer. Every person Kevorkian has assisted in ending their life has been terminally ill with no chance of recovery, and experiencing a very painful death.
Assisted suicide is a dual-edged sword. Is it our moral obligation to save life and prolong a persons pain and suffering because we possess technology to keep a terminally ill person alive? Is it against a physicians Hippocratic oath to ease a persons pain and suffering by helping them end their own lives in a humane way when they are experiencing a painful death? These questions should only be answered by you and your physician, not someone else legislating their moral and religious beliefs into something as personal as your own mortality.
It would be ironic if Michigan had the death penalty and Dr. Kevorkian was found guilty of first degree murder and mandatorily executed by lethal injection. Kevorkian assisted terminally ill people by ending their suffering humanely according to their wishes. "We the People" would assist in the execution of Dr. Jack Kevorkian according to our wishes, because "We the People" will pass legislation based on the morays of a politically active minority, dictating your birth, your private personal life, and ultimately the moment of your death.
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