Dr. Kevorkian, Supporter Of Physician-Assisted Suicides, Dead At 83
Comments (4)
Groups like Final Exit Network advocate for the "right to die." (Photo by Steve Garfield, Creative Commons)
In a 1998 60 Minutes interview, Kevorkian showed a videotape in which he administered a lethal injection to a patient who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.
“Somebody has to do something for suffering humanity,” Kevorkian said at the time. “I put myself in my patients' place. This is something I would want.”
Although he was charged with murder several times, Kevorkian was not convicted until 1999 over the death of a 52-year-old ALS sufferer to whom Kevorkian administered a lethal injection. Kevorkian served 8 years of a 10 to 20 year sentence.
Following his release from prison, Kevorkian swore not to participate in any more physician-assisted suicides. In recent years he spoke out in favor of changing state laws to allow patients' "right to die."
The debate over physician-assisted suicide remains a controversial subject.
Washington, Oregon, and Montana allow terminally ill patients who are mentally sound to be assisted by physicians to commit suicide.
Organizations like Final Exit Network argue assisted suicide is a mercy killing or rooted in a fundamental "right to die."
Other groups, such as Not Dead Yet, argue physician-assisted suicides have the potential for abusing patients' right to health care. In 1996, the organization said three-quarters of Kevorkian’s assisted suicides “involved non-terminal disabled people… denying them meaningful suicide prevention.”
Comments
Nobody from Final Exit Network has ever argued that "physician-assisted suicide is a 'mercy killing'." Your writer made up that quote out of thin air. I'm Final Exit Network's general counsel, and I can tell you absolutely nobody would use those words.
Do you have any comments on the death of Jana Van Voorhis? I read that she was mentally ill for a long time, for decades! So wasn't it wrong to kill her if she might not have even been mentally fit to make a decision? You may not use the words mercy killing, sir, but your group does play a dangerous game with human lives. Isn't it interesting that even Kevorkian preferred to die a natural death????
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2007-08-23/news/death-wish/
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/photoGallery/index/514993/5/
http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/2011/04/final-exit-network-...
The only problem I have with this article is that the writer should have called your organization out for what it has done. You're no better than Kevorkian.
Final Exit Network is more than just a group that 'argued' for a right to die. They have helped people to die. Let's not mince words here. They killed people. Isn't that right Robert?
Your organizations' top members faced charges for helping an Arizona woman die. One of the trials isn't over yet. That isn't even the only case. Sometimes your members took smaller plea deals.
Dear Mr. Rivas,
I did not attribute the words "physician-assisted suicide" or "mercy killing" to a representative from your organization. Rather, the aim was to explain what Final Exit Network and likeminded organizations advocate. One of the most recent items on the Final Exit Network website asks, "Do You Have the Basic Human Right to a Peaceful, Pain-Free Death? Not yet!!!" After spending some time on your site, which even uses the term "assisted suicide," it's clear Final Exit Network supports the "right to die"-- which amounts to physician assisted suicide or a mercy killing.
With best regards,
Reut Cohen