What Terri Schiavo’s Death Means for Dr. Jack Kevorkian
By Jenny Kiljian
April 2, 2005
Theresa Marie `Terri’ Schiavo, 41, was in a persistent vegetative
state for 15 years in a Florida hospice. Schiavo died on March 31;
she lived 13 days after doctors disconnected her feeding tube.
Her case has prompted an international confabulation among doctors,
legal scholars, ethicists, religious leaders and politicians.
One voice that has been largely absent from the debate has been
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, both reviled and admired internationally for his
commitment to providing euthanasia to people suffering from terminal
illness.
Kevorkian, 76, is serving a 10- to 25-year sentence for second-degree
murder after being convicted of giving a fatal injection of drugs to a
Lou Gehrig’s disease patient in 1998.
The former pathologist has promised in affidavits and requests for
pardon or commutation that he will not assist in a suicide if he is
released from prison.
Kevorkian told ABC News he is “dismayed” by the Schiavo case. “What
bothers me is the bit of hypocrisy in all of this,” said Kevorkian.
“When the president and the Congress get involved because life is
sacred and must be preserved at all costs, they don’t say anything
about the men on death row, and their lives are just as precious.”
But Kevorkian does believe some good can come from the debate over
people’s end-of-life wishes. “One thing, it has raised the issue, and
many more people would be willing to face it and discuss with families
and society in general,” he said.
Although Kevorkian is not eligible for parole until 2007, his attorney
Mayer Morganroth said that he would be approaching the courts in
November for Kevorkian’s early release. Although Gov. Jennifer
Granholm has said she will not consider pardoning Kevorkian, sources
close to the case say that Schiavo’s death could have an impact on
Granholm’s decision.
`There is of course a lot of media that are promoting his release, and
calls are coming in by the score at the prison and all over the place
that he should be released,’ said Morganroth. `The public is becoming
aware that he shouldn’t be in prison. The case has raised their
awareness again.’
Kevorkian, prisoner No. 284797, lives in a 7-by-11-foot cell at the
Thumb Correctional Facility in Michigan.
While Terry Schiavo’s case could help Kevorkian from a legal
standpoint, Morganroth pointed out key differences between the two
cases.
`Dr. Kevorkian had approval both in writing and orally by the person,
and by family members. If anyone objected, the procedure wasn’t
performed,’ he said. `Dr. Kevorkian examined all the medical records
and sent the person to a psychiatrist to make sure that the person
wasn’t suffering from depression. He also made sure that the person
was in irremedial pain and suffering and was terminal. Then,
Dr. Kevorkian would film the discussion with the person, and wouldn’t
perform the procedure for a period of weeks – giving the person the
opportunity to change their mind.’
Michael Schiavo contends his wife would not want to be kept alive
artificially. But her parents, Mary and Bob Schindler, argue she had
no such death wish and believe she could get better with
rehabilitation.
Terri Schiavo did not leave anything in writing about what she would
want if she ever became incapacitated. Over the years, courts have
sided with her husband in more than a dozen cases.
`In the case of Terry Schiavo, it’s far from what Dr. Kevorkian
did. But that doesn’t change the fact that if Terry Schiavo wanted her
life to be terminated, that it should be done. That’s what the courts
decided.’
Morganroth said Kevorkian turned down `3 out of 4′ people who came to
him, some of whom testified at his trial that they had come to him and
been rejected.
Kevorkian, whose health is deteriorating, has no relatives in the
United States. He never married, and has no children.
In February, he was briefly released from prison to undergo surgery
for a double hernia. Besides the hernia, Kevorkian reportedly has
hepatitis C, high blood pressure, arthritis, a heart murmur,
circulatory problems and the beginning stages of cataracts in his
eyes.
Morganroth also mentioned plans to turn Kevorkian’s story into a major
motion picture, called `You Don’t Know Jack.’ After years of rejecting
book and movie offers, Kevorkian has given the go-ahead for projects
to begin, but he says he will not benefit financially from any project
based on his life.
Internationally acclaimed actor Ben Kingsley is being tapped to
portray Kevorkian. `We haven’t made an offer to him yet, but he’s at
the top of our list,’ said producer Steve Jones, who has taken on the
project with Oscar-winning director Barbara Kopple. `We think he’d be
the perfect fit for the role.’
The film is not about the euthanasia debate, but a character study of
Kevorkian. `I don’t intend to make a film that bolsters
euthanasia. This is a story about an extraordinary life. No matter
what you think of Kevorkian, he is a genius,’ said Jones in a recent
interview with the Free Press. `The film will look at the life of
Dr. Kevorkian and all the incredible layers of his personality, and it
will look at a man who’s given up so much for what he believes.’
Ironically, it was a videotape that got Kevorkian convicted in
1998. For a time, thanks to his work, physician-assisted suicide had
been widely accepted and legally tolerated. By his count, he helped in
more than 130 suicides between 1990 and 1998. Courts would not convict
him and, after a while, prosecutors stopped charging him. Then, in
September, 1998, he performed the euthanasia of Thomas Youk, a
middle-aged man suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease.
When Michigan law enforcement authorities did not charge Kevorkian
with killing Youk, he took a tape of the incident to CBS Television,
which aired it in the news program `60 Minutes.’ On the program,
Kevorkian challenged prosecutors to act; three days later Kevorkian
was charged with the offense.
Jenny Kiljian is the editor of the Armenian Weekly.
This article has been reprinted from the Armenian
Weekly with permission.