NEWS BRIEF
“Dr. Kevorkian Invited to UF”
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, controversial advocate of physician-assisted suicide, speaks at UF
By Aline Baker
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, dubbed “Dr. Death” for his activism in assisting the suicides of 130 people, arrived in Gainesville Jan. 15 in the face of fierce protest. Demonstrators were a mixed group including members of several pro-life organizations and UF students who felt student fees should not have been used to hire Kevorkian, whom many consider to be a murderer, as an invited speaker.
ACCENT, the student-run organization that hosted the event, intended to bring Kevorkian to Gainesville in November of last year but postponed the speech due to the tazing incident at Sen. John Kerry’s speech in September. ACCENT paid Kevorkian $50,000 for his appearance, and the UF Foundation paid an additional $7,500 to cover expenses relating to the renegotiation of Kevorkian’s contracted date.
Despite opposition to Kevorkian’s visit, nearly 5,000 students, faculty and others from North Central Florida filled the event venue to maximum capacity to hear his speech.
Kevorkian, an advocate for physician-assisted suicide, was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder for his role in the death of 52-year-old Thomas Youk, who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Although several attempts to prosecute Kevorkian for his roles in other fatal cases failed because the patients themselves initiated the deadly flow of gas or chemicals, Youk’s death differed in that Kevorkian directly administered the injection of chemicals that took Youk’s life.
Kevorkian characterized his actions in the Youk case as compassionate euthanasia, but was nonetheless sentenced to 10-25 years in prison. He was released on parole in June 2007 due to ill health after serving eight years of his sentence. Although the terms of his parole prevent him from participating in future suicides, the 80-year-old Kevorkian still holds the strong conviction that it is the right of the individual, not that of the law, to decide his or her own destiny.
“All the law does is stop you from the rights you naturally have,” he said. “No law can create a right, just like no crime can create a law.”
Kevorkian’s argument was that the Ninth Amendment allowed him the right to assist in the suicides of the 130 people he helped to die and he said his purpose was to end suffering, not to kill.
“Because with that amendment, you have every right in the world,” Kevorkian said. “Law has nothing to do with it. Everyone says, ‘well, law gave me that right.’ No it didn’t.”
Kevorkian’s frustration with the legal proceedings in his case and his disappointment that the Ninth Amendment has never been used in U.S. Supreme Court rulings was evident throughout his speech. Kevorkian said the Supreme Court justices — whom he called the “nine dictators” — have taken away his constitutional rights as a citizen, and he was visibly angry with the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear his appeal of the Youk case.
Following the one and one-half hour speech, Kevorkian again voiced his disdain for the law during a question-and-answer panel session which included Robert Moffat, a UF professor of law, moderated by Jon Mills, a UF professor of law and director of Center for Governmental Responsibility.
“The problem is lawyers don’t understand the definition of law,” he said while pointing to Mills. “Every law is an infraction of liberty. Every law. So when you see these law books in the lawyer’s office, hundreds of law books, imagine all the rights you’ve lost because you can’t use them. All law can do is stop you from exercising the right that you have naturally.”