The Right to Die

I was searching through some old folder and ran across a paper that I wrote in middle school that I thought would be fun to share with the RPG Community. So I am just looking for your opinions on the actions of Jack Kevorkian as well as the entire idea of human euthanasia. The only reason I am posting up my old middle school paper is because it is what sparked the question and I enjoy sharing my writings with others.

It is important to remember that I wrote this paper back in middle school and that I did not edit it at all as I copied it from paper to Word (except to space out the paragraphs as to make it easier to read) and I like to think that my writing ability has approved since this particular piece. It got me an A so I guess it was good for that time. xD

Well, just remember the rules of RPG concerning debate and discussion. Let's just keep it civil and respect each other's opinions. So have at it! xD
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The Right to Die

Unjust laws in our country are not always easy to see, especially when they do not affect you directly, and are just as hard to define. Martin Luther King Jr. defines an unjust law as, ?a law that is out of harmony with the moral law? (Letter from Birmingham Jail) and went on to explain how it is the moral responsibility of an individual to purposely break unjust laws. It is this sort of affirmative action against an unjust law that sent Jack Kevorkian to prison for eight years.

Our very own Declaration of Independence clearly states that, ?all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain, unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.? Our Declaration clearly states that we have the right to live but should this not also go hand-in-hand with the right to die? If happiness can be found in death then is not our government denying us our natural rights by making a law against human euthanasia for the terminally ill?

Jack Kevorkian was born on May 26, 1928 in Pontiac, Michigan. He is an American pathologist of Armenian descent as well as a painter, composer, and instrumentalist. In 1952, Kevorkian graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor but had his medical license revoked by the state of Michigan in 1991 after assisting two terminally ill patients in suicide.

According to Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian?s lawyer, Jack Kevorkian assisted in the suicides of 130 people over a period of eight years (1990-1998). In each of these 130 cases, Kevorkian never administered the euthanasia drug himself but rather hooked his patients up to a machine of his own design that would administer the drug through an IV when and only when the patient pushed a button to do so. In this sense, it absolved Kevorkian from murder during his numerous trials concerning assisted suicide.

It was not until a November 22, 1998 airing of 60 Minutes that prosecutors would finally have the evidence they needed to convict Jack Kevorkian of second-degree murder. Kevorkian allowed a videotape he made on September 17, 1998 to be aired where he was shown personally administering a lethal injection to 52 year old Thomas Youk after Youk provided his full consent for the action.

Jack Kevorkian had only administered the injection personally because Thomas Youk, who was suffering from the final stages of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), was physically unable to do so himself. On March 26, 1999, Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance which he was not legally allowed to possess because of his medical license having been revoked in ?91.
A Michigan jury found Kevorkian guilty for second-degree murder and he was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison in Coldwater, Michigan. He served eight years and was paroled in 2007 under the circumstances that he would not comment on inquiries of assisted suicide and that he would no longer assist terminally ill patients in suicide.

A man who was not just slowly dying but was suffering on top of it asked Jack Kevorkian for his help and Kevorkian helped him. The injustice of the situation does not begin with Kevorkian?s incarceration for assisted suicide but rather it began with the denying of assisted suicide to those who are terminally ill.

The decision of whether or not a competent person has the right to die should be left up to no one else except for that person. It is wrong to give a man the freedom to pursue what makes him happy and then, in the end where it counts most, to deny him the right to end that which is denying him that happiness. The will of the individual should be just that, the individual?s. Government does not equal God and thus they hold no right over the life and death of any individual.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/B6js1j1TQok/viewtopic.php

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