Assisted Suicide 2
An advocate of assisted-suicide, Dr. Kevorkian, has recently been convicted of 2nd degree murder for an assisted-suicide and faces up to 25 years. Kevorkian claims to have assisted in over 130 suicides since 1990. Three earlier juries have acquitted him, and a mistrial was declared in his fourth case. In his most recent case, he was charged with murder for the lethal injection of 52 year old Thomas Youk, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease. Youk was the first case in which Kevorkian delivered the fatal dose of drugs himself. He filmed the death and turned it over to "60 Minutes", essentially for publicity and to end up in court again. Although Kevorkian wanted to be in court to battle the issue of assisted suicide, Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor John Skrzynski told the jury that "This case is not about the right to die. This case is about Jack Kevorkian's right to kill." (1) Beyond the issue at hand, the fact is that Dr. Kevorkian killed someone, for which he was on trial. Whether or not it is ethical or morally correct, he was on trial for the murder of a man which he obviously committed. He was also convicted of delivering a controlled substance and he may serve up to an additional seven years for that offence.
Assisted-suicide is a very serious issue that has been debated about for years, and is still very controversial. It is an issue similar to abortion in that it basically deals with people who are pro-life and pro-choice, with the majority of people falling somewhere in between those two extremes. Supporters essentially believe that we have the choice to end our lives under the circumstance of terminal illness and suffering. Those opposed to assisted-suicide view it as murder, and feel that people involved should be punished accordingly. Although I dislike the idea very strongly of suicide, I feel that in the circumstances of the people involved in the assisted-suicides, it should be allowed. The people who have already been involved in this are people who have no chance of survival, and will live the rest of their lives in a hospital and in pain. They don't want to live anymore, and they shouldn't have to. Some fear that with the legality of assisted-suicide people will feel that it is okay to commit suicide even if they aren't terminally ill. Many fear that it will lower people's standard of life if it is legal to commit suicide. I don't believe that this is so. If assisted-suicide were made legal, there would be very strict rules to be followed concerning procedure and those eligible, and people who are suicidal already would not be affected at all. I don't believe that the legality of it would influence them at all to commit suicide. If a person really wants to commit suicide, the fact that it is illegal has nothing to do with their deci
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Approximate Word count = 1052
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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