A lot of people didn't like Dr. Jack Kevorkian, and I can certainly understand that. He isn't exactly the first person who would be on my party list. The very mention of his name, after all, invokes the aura of death, almost as though he were the Grim Reaper incarnate.
But a lot of objections to him were political as well as religious. He felt he had a mission in life, to ease the transition to death in the case of those who simply no longer wanted to live. Although he concentrated his practice on those who were suffering through debilitating illnesses, he himself felt neither the federal government nor states should intervene whenever anyone wanted to end their lives, whether or not they suffered from an illness from which they stood no realistic chance of finding a cure or any kind of substantial relief from the agony it caused. To him, the state just did not have the right to make that call. In the case of states that allowed euthanasia, or physician assisted suicide, he generally complained their laws were too restrictive.
When he was finally prosecuted successfully by the state of Michigan, he had performed in close to one hundred assisted suicides by his own admission.
The state was right to prosecute him. The law is the law. Nor do I necessarily think euthanasia is a good practice or that it should be sanctioned by the state or codified into law. I don't, in fact, because it could be, and doubtless would be abused.
Still, I'm in awe of the man, and always was. He never backed down, right or wrong, even when it would have been to his advantage. He protested against what he considered an unjust law by breaking it. It was his own private foray into civil disobedience.
No matter what one might think of the man and his actions, he did help people die in peace and relative comfort. He saved them years of agony. Many people who live on for years in states of severe illness and incapacitation have nothing but misery to look forward to and their families have years of exorbitant medical expenses that can drain their finances and ruin the futures of their children and grandchildren.
He helped many people avoid these sufferings. He helped them to rest in peace. May he do likewise.
