Dr. Kevorkian Seeks Release

Editors Note: Northern Express contributing writer Rick Coates gained unique access to Dr. Jack Kevorkian and those close to the imprisoned champion of an individuals’ right to die with the assistance of a physician. This is the conclusion of his article. Part one may be found at www.northernexpress.com .

Society has made constant advances in medical procedures to offer assistance in every aspect of life. It has only been in the last 100 years or so that the medical community has embraced assisting in the child birthing process. In every step of life, the medical community is there to assist one with living. Except one.
Sure, there is hospice and medical care for those who are dying, and a patient is offered the choice to receive or not receive treatment. One choice patients do not have, however; with the exception of Oregon, is having a physician assist in the ending of a life.
Opponents to assisted suicide voice several concerns. One is that death belongs in God’s hands; yet they want to play God in the laws they bring to society in keeping people on life support alive. Another concern is that the physical or mentally challenged will be viewed as not desirable and physician-assisted suicide will evolve in choosing who lives and dies. Yet, not one proponent of assisted-suicide believes that this choice should be made for you or against anyone’s wishes, but rather as a personal choice.
American society has embraced personal freedoms and choices, even if those choices may result in causing death. Smoking, for instance, costs the American taxpayer billions in health care each year and can lead to an early death; yet we allow people to choose to smoke.
Choices are what make this country great. In fact the Oakland County Prosecutor had a choice to make five years ago in the prosecution of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He chose to prosecute while admitting that other physicians in his county were also assisting people in dying. The prosecutor stated that he knew euthanasia was happening at the hospital two miles away from his office. This has lead some to believe that Kevorkian’s prosecution was politically motivated.

SEEKING RELEASE
Regardless of motive, the result is Dr. Kevorkian remains behind bars five years after being sentenced April 13, 1999 to 10-to-25 years for second-degree murder. He is eligible for parole on June 1, 2007. His supporters are not sure that his health will allow for him to make it to his parole date.
“He would be 79 on the first day he is eligible for parole,” said Mayer Morganroth, Kevorkian’s attorney. “Then again, there is no guarantee that he will be released when he is eligible, so we continue to seek early release or an overturning of his conviction.”
To date, the call Morganroth has been waiting for from the United States 6th District Court of Appeals has not come.
In the meantime Kevorkian spends his days confined to the Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer, where his days are spent reading, thinking, calling friends, and seeing an occasional visitor the three days a week he is allowed to have them.
Ruth Holmes is someone who receives daily phone calls from Kevorkian and visits him regularly. Holmes is a leading handwriting and document examiner and her company, Pentec, based in Bloomfield Hills, has clients worldwide providing services for corporations, trial attorneys and even the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office which prosecuted Kevorkian. She was hired in 1996 to serve as a trial consultant to Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian’s attorney at the time. She has remained both a friend and advisor to Kevorkian and feels that his continued imprisonment is a waste of a person who could be contributing to the betterment of society if freed.
“This is a great American tragedy, that a man that we know in the long run is going to be right has been stopped by the current powers,” said Holmes. “To think that the government is making one of the most personal decisions for you by not allowing you the freedom to make this choice is a real travesty.
“To continue to imprison a man that has been a life long servant to society is wrong,” she continued. “What is worse is knowing that this brilliant man could be out right now working on research that might actually extend lives.”

DR. LIFE
Kevorkian has stated that upon his release he would not engage in physician-assisted suicides. But would he consider work in the areas of medical research outside assisted-suicide?
“I have a lot of ideas in regards to research that would be aimed at prolonging the lives of patients facing eminent and unavoidable death,” said Kevorkian.
It is those types of statements, his work as a combat physician in Korea, and his contributions to the improvement of medical practices, that have his friends referring to him as “Dr. Life,” rather than the media-popularized “Dr. Death.”
It has been several years since he has practiced medicine or had access to a research laboratory. His ability to keep up with advances in modern medicine is limited by the lack of access to resources, books and medical journals. Holmes sends him articles of interest from time to time, but she is confident that Kevorkian could quickly catch up with medical advances made since his imprisonment.
Besides reading, Kevorkian keeps himself busy by writing. During the past five years Kevorkian revisited many of his published works and created an anthology titled “glimmerIQs-A Florilegium,” which is available to the public only by visiting his website www.glimmeriqs.com or by e-mail penumbra@glimmeriqs.com.
“The book has been selling at a rapid pace since it was released last week,” said Pam Green, who assisted in its layout. “I have been filling orders from all over; there is a lot of interest out there about what Dr. Kevorkian thinks.”

RENAISSANCE MAN
Ruth Holmes is not surprised by the interest that still exists for Dr. Kevorkian.
“This is not a book about assisted suicide but rather a book that shows his creativity and his brilliance,” said Holmes (who assisted Kevorkian by taking information almost daily over the phone to complete the book). “Long before his legacy of physician-assisted suicide, Dr. Kevorkian was building a legacy as a Renaissance man, and I believe this book supports that. People are intrigued by his intelligence and that fact that he is not a one-dimensional person. He is well read in several areas.”
Kevorkian writes about dieting, art, music, philosophy, family, medicine and history while sprinkling in several limericks over the 227-page book. The book also has copies of original music he composed, as well as color photographs of some of his paintings including an explanation as to the meaning of each piece.
Does he have another book in the works?
“I have a lot of ideas,” said Kevorkian. “But I am not working on anything at this time.”
What are you currently reading?
“‘Freedom in Chains‘ by James Bovard: ‘The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen,‘” said Kevorkian.
While Kevorkian’s current read points to citizenry losing personal freedoms and control over individual choices by giving way to the establishment, inevitably his own future and freedom lies in those same controlling hands.
His legal team pleads through the courts while his friends plead to what they hope is a compassionate governor. Yet silence remains from all fronts, including the media which has found itself busy with Martha Stewart and other items of the day.

PLEA TO THE GOVERNOR
On February 14, a total of 24 of Dr. Kevorkian’s childhood friends wrote a letter to Governor Jennifer Granholm. To date, they have yet to hear from Granholm on their request for a pardon for their friend. The letter read:

“We the undersigned are the lifelong friends of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He is a near dear brother like friend who is a compassionate and caring person. We all grew up together during the depression in the poor, south side of Pontiac and all of our parents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide.
The reason we are writing is to plead with you for a pardon for Dr. Kevorkian. We realize that his imprisonment might have been due to his arrogance and flaunting of the law. However he is responsible for making our country and the world aware of the need for deathbed pain management.
Additional positive reasons for his pardon are as follows:
1) He has declared the Doctor Assisted Suicide phase of his life is over.
2) He has a brilliant mind and reassures us that he will use it to develop a more positive legacy.
3) He has been in prison for 5 years, which seems adequate for this victimless crime.
4) His release would be a newsworthy item in every paper in the United States and many throughout the world and therefore reinforcing our reputation as a compassionate nation.
5) He served our country honorably in the war zone in the Korean War.
6) He has dedicated his entire life to the service of society.
It is now time for him to be freed for him to pursue his personal happiness. We know you are busy with higher priorities however we would appreciate your prompt and serious attention to this matter so that we might be able to spend our final years with our dear friend.”

Governor Granholm’s office refuse comment on this letter or any response or action she might make or take.

AHEAD OF HIS TIME?
Many believe that Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s legacy will be similar to that of Martin Luther King’s or even Gandhi’s: Men whose ideals, visions and thoughts were ahead of their time. These men stood for tolerance and personal freedoms and choices and their ideas evolved into the societal landscape. Kevorkian’s supporters see similarities in his beliefs and thoughts.
For his detractors, Kevorkian is where he belongs -- behind bars. He broke the laws of the state and taunted governmental officials along the way.
Yet in reflection, it can be noted that Rosa Parks broke laws, so did Martin Luther King. They and many others stood with courage as they openly challenged societal assertions and beliefs. Dr. King now has a national holiday in his honor; will there someday be day for Dr. Kevorkian?
The debate over physician assisted suicide crosses over religious, ethical, and societal mores. For Kevorkian, it is simply a matter of personal choice. He does not condone the use of assisting anyone in death unless they make that choice. Opponents see too much gray area in the decision, and too much room for human error.

NEVER SUED
O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, yet he was sued in civil court for wrongful death and lost. One must wonder with Kevorkian’s involvement in over 130 physician-assisted suicides, why he, not even once, was ever sued?
In a time of overcrowded prisons, it is a question as to how long Kevorkian will remain behind bars. Supporters feel he is not a serious threat to society and never was. At best, he was once a serious threat to the establishment and the power it enjoys by sitting in control and judgment. He scared the powers that be and dared them into imprisoning him. The system won in the short run, but believers and supporters of Kevorkian believe he will win in the end.
“One day Jack will win and I just hope he is alive to see it,” said Sarah Holmes.
As for Kevorkian’s final statement:
“The great tragedy in this country right now is that people are numb and just don’t care.”
Fitting words from a man who has spent five years in tiny prison cell for helping those who asked for his help. He was there as a compassionate physician, willing not only to break what many feel is a broken law, but to force a society that claims to be enlightened to face and rethink its position on life’s only certainty and one of its most important realities: DEATH.

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