Dr. Death

Dr. Jack Kevorkian

Janet Adkins reclined in the back of a rusted 1968 Volkswagen van with a man she had recently met. Her companion plugged in an EKG machine and set up a “suicide machine” made from parts bought at flea markets. He inserted an IV and directed her to push a button that released thiopental, inducing unconsciousness. Then the machine automatically switched to potassium chloride, causing cardiac arrest and death.

When the EKG flatlined, Dr. Jack Kevorkian called police and told them what he had done. Within 24 hours the gaunt, cadaverous looking doctor was a household name.

His appearance was fitting. One hospital terminated his residency after he suggested using death row inmates for medical experimentation. At the next he raced to dying patients, taped their eyes open and photographed their corneas at the moment they died; co-workers nicknamed him “Dr. Death.” His reputation eventually shut him out of hospital positions.

He assisted 130 suicides, at least 70% of whom weren’t dying and 5 who weren’t even ill. His hobby put him in prison for almost 10 years. Another pastime, painting, revealed a macabre obsession with death. Surreal severed heads were a favorite motif.

Kevorkian had big ideas. His book Prescription Medicide – The Goodness of Planned Death promoted the establishment of “obitoriums” where people would go to die. Doctors were to anesthetize patients and do experiments on their living brains and spinal cords before euthanizing them. Legalization of euthanasia was needed to enable Dr. Jack to perform human vivisection.

Is it surprising he didn’t believe in God? His actions could happen only if God was rejected. Kevorkian obscured his contempt for life by portraying himself as a purveyor of mercy. This worked because there are cases where assisted suicide seems justified.

What’s a Christian to think? Suicide is self-murder and is against the will of God. This standard recognizes that life can be really tough but our self-worth is enhanced by gutting out difficulties and surviving as stronger, more faithful people. The strength it reveals is respected by others and makes a statement about the power of God.

Besides, suicide leaves survivors feeling guilt, grief, helplessness and outrage while giving them tacit permission to follow suit, creating a recipe for intergenerational dysfunction. No wonder the Bible forbids it.

But shouldn’t the secular state allow it for those who don’t believe? Here’s the problem: governments tend to expand whatever they legalize. Before World War II the American eugenics movement – which sought to improve society by eliminating defective genes in the population – succeeded in legislating involuntary sterilization and prohibition of interracial marriage. American eugenicists also suggested lethally gassing those deemed to have inferior genes. In the end Hitler - who tracked U.S. eugenic legislation – massively implemented this and showed its horrific potential. State involvement in euthanasia puts us on a dangerous slippery slope.

Suicide is the one sin you can’t repent of. Anyone contemplating it needs spiritual support and counseling as a child of God, not the cold-blooded ministration of a Jack Kevorkian.

For a disturbing insight into Kevorkian’s psyche, see his art at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kevorkian/aboutk/art/war.html

Photo credit: Carlos Osario, Associated Press

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