Vengeful Michigan officials only embarrassing themselves
His patients suffered from diseases that wouldn't allow them to walk, talk or swallow. They wore diapers because of incontinence. Many were bed-ridden from prolonged debilitating illnesses. Others had cancer, and could feel their internal organs melting away.
They all had different illnesses, but they all shared a simple wish - to die.
And they called on Michigan pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian so they could end their lives with dignity.
Kevorkian's charity for people who wanted assistance in their suicides landed him in court on numerous occasions. Obsolete anti-euthanasia laws, supported by legislators who remain in the dark ages, have continued plaguing the pathologist.
Now, his sympathy for the pain of his patients prompted a Michigan judge and prosecutors to imprison him.
Kevorkian's most recent criminal activity: aiding in the suicide of Thomas Youk, a man who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease - an affliction that traps people inside their skin. It leaves them unable to breathe, walk or swallow.
Imagine, for a moment, living with that disease. Thomas Youk knew the chance of ever maintaining a normal life was gone. For Youk's family, watching this beloved man suffer was unbearable.
Youk, supported by his wife and brother, asked Kevorkian to help him die. Kevorkian complied, was subsequently arrested, convicted of second-degree murder and was sent to jail for 10-25 years by a vengeful Michigan legal system.
Granted, Kevorkian made a terrible mistake by allowing CBS' "60 Minutes" to air tapes of Youk's suicide, footage that made the pathologist look like a doctor of death.
Kevorkian appeared cold and insensitive as he performed the procedure that resulted in Youk's death. The tapes only added fuel to his "Dr. Death" image.
He was a physician when he should have been a humanitarian. He was scientific when he should have been shedding tears and mourning Youk.
Regardless of Kevorkian's poor appearance on the tapes, the Michigan legal system - which has ruthlessly tortured Kevorkian through the years -Ędecided it's in the state's best interest to leave the doctor penniless if he is released before he dies.
The state treasurer filed a lawsuit against Kevorkian Thursday, in an effort to charge him rent for his prison cell. A spokesman for the state's attorney general said the state can take up to 90 percent of Kevorkian's funds to pay for his imprisonment.
Kevorkian reportedly has about $108,000 in two bank accounts, and the state has asked a judge to freeze those funds, allowing the prison warden to obtain control.
In reality, the money is altogether irrelevant. Kevorkian never cared much about money.
The fact that Michigan's treasurer is rubbing Kevorkian's nose in his conviction is absolutely reprehensible. It's not enough that they imprisoned a man who helped hundreds end their lives with dignity. Now they have to destroy his financial stability.
It's blatant greed, and it adds to the hatred people feel for a government already filled with rogue employees.
Supporters can be thankful for this: Kevorkian has good lawyers who will eventually find a way to spring him from prison. Once he wins back his freedom, he will return to his charitable work. Dying people will once again have some salvation.
And the trend is catching. More and more doctors have chosen to shirk the law, opting to be decent human beings and end the lives of suffering people.
The Michigan officials have accomplished nothing - unless embarrassing themselves in front of the modern world is now considered an accomplishment.
|
