Inclusion Daily Express -- Kevorkian Admits Breaking The Law Might Have Been A Mistake

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Kevorkian Admits Breaking The Law Might Have Been A Mistake
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
May 31, 2006

COLDWATER, MICHIGAN--On his 78th birthday, sitting behind bars with one year left to go before his first parole hearing, Jack Kevorkian has apparently seen the errors of his ways.

Well, sort of.

ABC News has reported that the attorney representing the infamous "Dr. Death" said the assisted suicide crusader now realizes that helping at least 130 people to kill themselves might not have been the best way to promote his cause.

"He did what he did, and it brought it to public awareness [of physician-assisted suicide]," said attorney Mayer Morganroth.

"He now realizes that having performed it when it was against the law, wasn't the, probably, appropriate way to go about it . . . What he should have done was work towards its legalization verbally . . . Pursuing that cause, and not performing it because it still was against the law."

Kevorkian's new perspective, which is being reported as an admission of 'regret' for breaking Michigan law, came just a week after Morganroth asked Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to grant Kevorkian a pardon or commute his sentence on medical grounds.

Kevorkian, who was sentenced in 1999 to 10 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder, has a long list of health problems, Morganroth said, and will probably not survive until the June 1, 2007 parole hearing.

Morganroth had made the same claims during the three previous years.

A spokesperson for Granholm's office said the governor will probably not be moved to grant Kevorkian's early release, unless the state parole board recommends it.

Many disability rights advocates have long opposed Kevorkian and others in the campaign to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia. They have pointed out that many of those Kevorkian helped end their lives were in emotional, psychological or social crises, or had disabilities, but were not in the final stages of terminal illnesses as was originally believed.

Related:
"Dying 'Dr. Death' Has Second Thoughts About Assisting Suicides" (ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=2008364
"Jack Kevorkian: Dr. Death" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/advocacy/kevorkian.htm
New!!! Commentary on the Inclusion Daily Express Weblog:
http://www.inclusiondaily.blogspot.com

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