Word: kevorkians
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Kevorkian has become the kind of fanatic who could prompt people who share his views to change their minds. Two out of three Americans say they think doctors should be allowed to help desperately sick patients commit suicide, a cause for which Kevorkian has become the most celebrated champion. But as he appears on television after each new death, invoking a higher moral authority and ignoring court orders and judges' instructions, Kevorkian begins to embody all the warnings about how euthanasia, once unleashed, could get out of hand. "It's almost become obligatory for people who write or speak about...
...thing, Kevorkian has made clear his intention to work outside the law. When a Michigan judge dismissed murder charges against him but advised him against continuing his crusade, Kevorkian replied that he would never shirk his "medical duty. If my colleagues won't work with me, I will work alone." In 1988 Kevorkian suggested to founder Derek Humphry that the Hemlock Society, which supports euthanasia for the terminally ill, join forces with him and set up a suicide center. Humphry's response was "We're not lawbreakers, we're law reformers." But he recalls that Kevorkian insisted that such...
Even passionate supporters of euthanasia argue that there must always be safeguards -- second opinions from disinterested doctors, psychological evaluations, family consultations -- before any decision is made. Though Kevorkian is adamant about the precautions he takes, his enthusiasm for testing new techniques and promoting his cause has naturally raised concerns about his neutrality in counseling potential clients. A pathologist by training, he is not in the best position to make a judgment about patients when they are still alive...
...rushed to Governor John Engler's desk last week, which would temporarily ban physician-assisted suicide until a commission can make a recommendation, is aimed directly at Kevorkian. But the doctor says it makes no difference to him if Michigan's elected representatives turn him into an outlaw. "He has told me that even if this does become a law, he would violate it," says Fieger. The problem is that once zealots claim the right to choose which laws they'll obey, all the underlying trust that permits professionals, and especially doctors, to function disappears...
Then there is the discomfiting pattern that, though men are three times as likely as women to commit suicide, so far all of Dr. Kevorkian's suicide patients have been female. It's not that he has any special fondness for watching women die, but rather, he has explained, because "women are just far more realistic about facing death and have got the guts to do it." Kevorkian considers his treatment a form of toughlove. He recalls his first client, ^ Janet Adkins, a vibrant 54-year-old just diagnosed with Alzheimer's who sought out Kevorkian because she was terrified...