Dr. Kevorkian to be Released from Prison

Dr. Jack Kevorkian says that he would follow the law and place his energy into advocacy for patients' rights to die, and not into the actual assistance he provided them in achieving that goal, if given the chance to do it all again. He may be given that chance. On June 1, 2007, the former "Dr. Death" is scheduled for released from prison on parole. He is 78-years-old, and terminally ill with Hepatitis C.

These new developments in Dr. Kevorkian story bring new fire to the controversy that ignited in the United States when Kevorkian first advertised his services for "death counseling" in the late 1980s, and embarked on his well publicized spree of "assisted suicides" between 1990 and 1998. Now, with the release of Dr. Kevorkian scheduled, once again, the question of whether or not physician assisted suicide is moral and/or ethical is heating up, and advocates and opponents of the legality of the practice are putting on their war armor.

Convicted of second-degree murder for the death of 52-year-old Thomas Youk, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, Dr. Kevorkian will have served just over 8 years of a 10-25 year sentence when he is released. Claiming to have "assisted" over 130 patients to their deaths, Kevorkian managed to evade conviction four times (three by acquittals, the fourth by mistrial) before finally finding himself convicted of the crime of second-degree murder in the Youk case.

It would have been a hard case to defend for a seasoned defense attorney. Considering the fact that Dr. Kevorkian televised the crime on national television on February 22, 1998- covered by Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes" airing during prime time television viewing- and the fact that Dr. Kevorkian chose to pose as his own defense attorney for his fifth, and final trial, Kevorkian's conviction for second-degree murder seemed almost designed.

But the infamous "Dr. Death" seems poised to make a few changes to the blue prints of that design. Dr. Kevorkian has been quoted as saying that, pending his release, he will continue to work for advocacy causes for the rights of terminal patients to choose when and how to die, but will abstain from participating in any more "assisted suicides."

"You can put any conditions you want on me. I'm not going to do it again," said Kevorkian, "Anything that will bring me back to prison, I will avoid. Prison is not a place a live."

For his part, "60 Minutes" reporter Mike Wallace has stood steadfastly by the beleaguered Dr. Kevorkian since the 1998 televised "assisted suicide" of Thomas Youk. "He's a decent and compassionate man who tried to help people get out of the suffering of their lives," said Wallace.

Youk's brother, Terrance Youk, remains similarly supportive of Dr. Kevorkian. Since his brother's death, and the resulting trial that incarcerated Kevorkian, Terrance Youk had been dedicated to bringing about his quick release.

"I was starting to believe that they would never let him out," Terrance Youk is quoted as saying. "All he wanted to do was help people have a choice at the end of their life when they don't have any other choices."

On the other side of the physician assisted suicide fence are some pretty weighty opponents. In a 1995 letter written to Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley, the general counsel for the American Medical Association wrote, on behalf of the AMA that "by invoking the physician-patient relationship to cloak his actions, Jack Kevorkian perverts the idea of the caring and committed physician, and weakens the public's trust in the medical profession."

In 1996, freelance writer and quadriplegic wrote a piece for the Pacific News Service in which he stated "There's a killer on the loose. He doesn't kill boys as did John Wayne Gacy. That would get him into trouble. He doesn't kill women as did Ted Bundy. That would get him into trouble. He kills disabled people. Perhaps it's appropriate that killers specialize these days. Healers have been specializing for years. And by limiting his killing to disabled people, Dr. Jack Kevorkian stays out of jail."

It is a hard opinion to ignore.

Dr. Kevorkian claims to have "assisted" over 130 patients to their deaths. His critics claim that some of those patients were either depressed or non-terminal, and that his actions went farther than the "physician assisted suicide" controversy.

It is a hard opinion to ignore.

Can you watch a loved one suffer and feel confident in the law that there is no legal mechanism for ending that suffering before "drastic measures" are required?

Can you watch a loved one suffer, and not wonder, after they've finally expired, whether or not you could have eased their suffering by helping them into their next "phase" earlier and spared them some pain?

Dr. Kevorkian's case is one for the masses and the ages. Regardless of legality, until we have concrete proof of the hereafter, the issue of physician-assisted suicide will continue to be a molten topic.

And a confusing topic. And painful one.