Dr. Kevorkian Essay

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Kevorkian

Dr. Kevorkian

The act of suicide has historically been considered a tragic act that cannot be forgiven in Abrahamic religions. In other cultures, such as in Japan, suicide has actually had traditional purposes. Samurai, for example, were expected to commit 'seppuku', a process of slowly cutting oneself open in the stomach, in order to save face for their family for their losing a battle. For the purposes of Dr. Kevorkian, however, who operated in the United States, his determination to provide assisted suicides led to many of his patients countering the official doctrine of the state as well as the church, of suicide as a negative thing which should be discouraged and made illegal.

The legend of Dr. Kevorkian began at the University of Michigan medical school, where the young doctor began to think about 'the determination of death', or the ability to choose to die. He published his work in 1956, and went on to unsuccessfully achieve a career in medicine and movie making. Thirty years later, in 1990, Dr. Kevorkian conducts his first assisted suicide, of one Janet Adkins suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Kevorkian is a doctor who understands what his role is to patients. It is his responsibility to take care of a patient under any circumstances, and to carry out the wishes of the patient whether they choose a beneficial operation or not. Free will is the guiding force of Dr. Kevorkian's commitment to one's ability to choose to die a calm and peaceful death.

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The legal question of what Dr. Kevorkian did was elevated all the way to the level of the Supreme Court in 1996. The Supreme Court decided to uphold the decision against Dr. Kevorkian, which secured the decision by the state that death could not legally be given, even with the consent of the patient, by any assisted practice or operation. This decision effectively ended the ability of Dr. Kevorkian to continue his practice.

The question of assisted suicide even went before the voters of Michigan in 1998, deciding to reject a proposal to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This decision made final the legislative process of what Dr. Kevorkian was performing. Any further physician-assisted suicide by Dr. Kevorkian would be seen as murder by the state and he would be punished accordingly. Unfortunately, Dr. Kevorkian attempted to test the system that had been placed against him, and he performed another physician-assisted suicide in the case of Thomas Youk. Youk, suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, died in 1998, and Kevorkian was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison, with the ability to appeal. The doctor was forced to….....

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