Well, not yet. And maybe not ever. But Dr. Jack Kevorkian — dubbed “Dr. Death” for his facilitating role in 130 assisted suicides — has declared his intention to represent Michigan’s Oakland Country in Congress.
Kevorkian spent eight years in prison on charges of second-degree murder, after helping a patient use a machine he invented that allows terminally ill people to self-administer a lethal injection by pushing a button. He says he acted compassionately, helping terminally ill people shorten their suffering at their request, and has proven a polarizing figure, dividing those who believe that human life must be preserved at all costs and those that agree with Kevorkian’s lawyers that “people have a right to decide their own destiny.”
From the Oakland Press:
Michigan law doesn’t prevent Kevorkian from running for office, or from voting, now that he’s been released from prison.
Kevorkian was sentenced to 10 to 25 years for second-degree murder April 13, 1999, for the assisted suicide death of Thomas Youk, which he filmed and which was broadcast on national TV.
He was paroled June 1 last year and remains on parole until June 1, 2009, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
At first glance, one would think that a man who has admitted to helping end 130 lives might be as unelectable as they come — especially in a place where the incumbent Republican has won eight consecutive terms. But if voters use his candidacy to launch euthanasia into the national spotlight, he just might get enough votes to start the debate anew.
A long and interesting Time Magazine feature on the issue can be found here.
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