Some states, including California, have been trying to legalize assisted suicide.
Unlike assisted suicide methods today, Kevorkian used unconventional practices to kill his patients, which, according to Sacramento lobbyist Steve Hopcract, made him "the equivalent of a back-ally abortionist." Kevorkian would administer deadly drugs into the patients through a machine he created and then drop bodies off at hospitals or motel rooms.
"I thought he was crazy," said University of California Los Angeles researcher and disabilities-rights activist Alan Toy in an article on www.freep.com. "But it's that kind of insane, whacked behavior that caused me to come around and say we need...legislation."
Oregon, the only state to have legalized assisted suicide, agreed.
"One of the driving forces of the [Oregon] law was to prevent the Jack Kevorkians from happening," said Kate Davenport, a communications specialist at the Death with Dignity National Center in Portland, OR. Only those who are terminally ill, mentally stable, and who can administer the drugs themselves are protected under Oregon's law. Patients must also request twice orally and once in writing to a doctor that this is what they want.
Supporters of the law also hope it will increase awareness for terminal ill care. Already, according to Valerie Vollmar, a professor at Oregon's Willamette University College of Law, "end-of-life care has increased dramatically." (www.cnn.com)
Other states, including California, have been trying to legalize assisted suicide. According to Lloyd Levine, a sponsor of the California proposal, "Kevorkian is exactly why we need to pass this law."
However, one opponent, Burke Balch, Director of the Powell Center for the Medical Ethics at the National Right to Life Committee said, "The solution here is not to kill people who are getting inadequate pain management, but to remove barriers to adequate pain management."
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