Jack Kevorkian Released From Prison After Killing Patient in Euthanasia

Bioethics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 1, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Jack Kevorkian Released From Prison After Killing Patient in Euthanasia Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 1
, 2007

Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) — Assisted suicide crusader Jack Kevorkian was released from prison today after serving eight years of a 10 to 25 year prison sentence he received for killing a patient. Kevorkian was sent to prison in 1999 after showing a videotape on CBS News of him euthanizing Thomas Youk, who had Lou Gehrig’s disease.

He smiled to a group of reporters as he walked out of the correctional facility.

“It’s wonderful,” he said of his release. “It’s one of the high points of life.”

However, the former pathologist didn’t say much as his lawyer, Meyer Morganroth, whisked him away in a rented white van with its back windows covered.

“I thank everybody for coming,” Morganroth said. "I thank the thousands who have supported him and have written him. He just wants a little privacy for the next few days.”

But Kevorkian won’t have much privacy because he’s expected to participate in an interview with the television news program 60 Minutes that is scheduled to air Saturday. Host Mike Wallace greeted Kevorkian as he exited the jail with a big hug and he did not answer questions form reporters about the show, his potential interview questions or the embrace.

He also won’t have many freedoms, as the terms of his parole will limit his abilities.

Kevorkian has said he won’t engage in any more assisted suicides but plans to travel extensively to advocate the passage of assisted suicide laws in states other than Oregon, the only one to have legalized the practice.

Sister Monica Kostielney, the president of the Michigan Catholic Conference, told LifeNews.com that he won’t find much success there in his home state.

"Any legislative effort to decriminalize assisted suicide in this state will face the same demise as the 1998 ballot issue that was overwhelmingly rejected by a three to one margin," she said.

"Assisted suicide represents an affront to the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity — all of which must be repudiated by elected officials and people of good will who seek to protect life from its beginning to its natural end," Kostielney added.

She said those suffering from terminal diseases or other disabilities should receive appropriate palliative care and support from family and the medical community rather than an encouragement to die.