Jack Kevorkian's Argument Against Euthanasia

CONTEXT Euthanasia has been around long before Jack Kevorkian and so have laws against it. In the 500 BC-16th Century AD many ancient Greeks and Romans not only supported euthanasia but illegally practiced it:"Although the Hippocratic Oath prohibited doctors from giving 'a deadly drug to anybody, not even if asked for,' or from .,suggesting such a course of action, few ancient Greek or Roman physicians followed the oath faithfully" (ProCon.org). In fact one of the first recorded uses of euthanasia was in the 17th century. In the 17th century many early American colonies decided to make laws against euthanasia. For hundreds of years the Anglo American law is a law against suicide and assisted suicide and for the most part people followed

Kevorkian earned his way to jail by doing what he believed was right." A Michigan jury last month found Dr Jack Kevorkian guilty of second degree murder in the death of Thomas Youk”(Fred Charatan). Thomas was diagnosed with amyotrophic and did not want to suffer so he called Dr. Kevorkian to give him a peaceful death. Because of this murder, "A Michigan judge sentenced Dr. Jack Kevorkian on Tuesday to 10 to 25 years in prison..."(CNN) He was not arrested the first time he ever assisted suicide someone. He actually wasn't arrested until years later when he broadcasted a man killing himself. Dr. Kevorkian believed that assisted suicide is right and should be an available option to anyone. When he was arrested the police chief stated, "You had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did, and dare the legal system to stop you," she said. "Well, sir, consider yourself stopped"(CNN). The police was never able to get proof of him doing the crimes until then.” Three trials ended in acquittal and a fourth ended in a mistrial. In all the previous cases, Dr Kevorkian had violated laws against assisted suicide by helping patients give themselves a fatal injection through a so called suicide machine"(Fred Charatan). In his trial he was not able to convince the judge it was not his choice but the husbands and

Kevorkian is gone his will and beliefs still live on inside others. Dr. Kevorkian died at William Beaumont Hospital where he suffered many kidney problems. Washington D. C is the seventh jurisdiction to legalize euthanasia:“Congress can still vote to overturn the law or attempt to defund it. Even Though Congress can defund euthanasia laws it will be much harder than it was for them to allow euthanasia.(Procon.org). Even though Dr. Kevorkian had many followers some did not agree with everything he did. In a time where many debates about euthanasia heated up, “many experts and advocates say Dr. Kevorkian, who claims to have helped more than 130 people die”(Pam Belluck) only made it harder for them to legalize euthanasia. Some people believe the way Dr. Kevorkian handled assisted suicide was not right: “They say his provocative style might have attracted some supporters and raised awareness of the issue, but it also alienated some people who might have been sympathetic”(Pam Belluck). Even though many people supported him there were still those that believed that what he was doing was not right. They believed that his illegal approach made people realize the positive and negatives about euthanasia. Especially since in today’s society most parents usually teach their kids that going to prison and breaking the law is bad and anyone that breaks the laws are also bad. This will negatively effect the cause of euthanasia because it will be these kids who are going to