Jack Kevorkian Trial

The Dr. Death Trials

The Dr. Death trials revolve around Dr. Jack Kevorkian (A.K.A Dr. Death) and his unorthodox euthanasia killings. Background information on the accused, Dr. Kevorkian, is he was born in Pontiac, Michigan on May 26, 1928 to strict and religious Armenian parents, Levon and Satenig. Dr. Kevorkian rejected the idea of a God at age 12 and stopped attending church entirely. He graduated in medicine at the University of Michigan in 1952 and received a speciality in pathology soon after. However, in 1952, Dr. Kevorkian’s career took a break when he had to serve 15 months as an Army medical officer in Korea. Kevorkian first became fascinated by death when he served his residency at the University of Michigan hospital in the 1950s.

Numerous legal issues are present in the trials of Dr. Kevorkian. All the issues circulate around the question, is Dr. Kevorkian’s actions in assisting a person with suicide and sometimes personally ending the person’s life considered murder if they want to willfully die? This issue cannot be easily solved, that is why to this day it is still argued in legislation. It contains an objective legal aspect, but a subjective moral, therefore until one is personally in that tragic situation, they cannot really state what is the right or wrong thing to do. A large issue in this case was not only that Dr. Kevorkian was assisting people in committing suicide, which is illegal in the state of Michigan, but he was also using doctor issued medicine and practicing without a medicine license. Another significant question in this case is whether Dr. Kevorkian had the right of “playing God” by assisting people in dying when they wanted to instead of letting nature take its course. This last legal issue focuses on finances because should relatives to a terminally ill person have to reduce their quality of life by taking money out of their own pocket to pay for the extremely expensive cost of life support of their loved one if they are in pain and in a vegetative state not really living life? All these legal issues are present everyday with the large number of individuals on life support which affects the loved ones of these ill people, and the government on having to make laws to better

In my opinion, I think assisted suicide and euthanasia should not be legal. What causes Dr. Kevorkian and I to have differentiating opinions on this matter I believe is our religious faith. Dr. Kevorkian as a non-religious man might have the view that one lives life and then gets buried under the ground soil like everyone else, which might be a reason as to why he thinks if someone wants to die there’s nothing wrong with helping them, instead you are kind of doing them a favour. Also, possible PTSD from all the deaths he witnessed when he did his service in Korea could account to his mere significance towards human life. On the other hand, not stating that this is the correct side since no one will ever know, I believe that only God should decide when it is someone’s turn to die. I don’t believe that we should have the power to decide one’s fate. An important part to recognize that is not talked a lot about in this topic is that if euthanasia and assisted suicide is illegal, then doctors won’t have the pressure and burden of having to take someone’s life, even if the person wanted it. These people are educated to be doctors, not killers. They are meant to use everything in their power to save patients, not take away their life. In the end, I have never been in a situation or know of someone that was terminally ill and contemplated assisted suicide, thus I do not have the proper knowledge to confidently further state my position