Maybe I won't stay out of prison. Who knows?
Jack Kevorkian
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Jack Kevorkian quotes
A transfer of money should never be involved in this profound situation. Although illness is profound, too, but medicine's a business today. It's a business.
All the big powers they've silenced me. So much for free speech and choice on this fundamental human right.
Am I a criminal? The world knows I'm not a criminal. What are they trying to put me in jail for? You've lost common sense in this society because of religious fanaticism and dogma.
Among doctors in general, I think more than half support what I'm doing.
As a medical doctor, it is my duty to evaluate the situation with as much data as I can gather and as much expertise as I have and as much experience as I have to determine whether or not the wish of the patient is medically justified.
During the break, look up your case during the break. Look up your case. Prove it to me, then I'll apologize. You ain't got a case. And no law.
First of all, do any of you here think it's a crime to help a suffering human end his agony? Any of you think it is? Say so right now. Well, then, what are we doing here?
Five to six thousand people die every year waiting for organs, but nobody cares.
Frst, there's no incentive for the doctor to do more than he has to do. In fact, he wants to do less now. All salaried people would like to do less for the money. And second, you prevent abuse.
Given enough time, you see if there's any retrogression of the process or any progression or any kind of amelioration. It's subjective. All-many medical diagnoses and interpretations are subjective. That's why this can't be legislated.
I didn't do this for other people; I did this for me. I fought for this right for me-does that sound selfish?
I don't enjoy good food. I don't enjoy flashy cars. I don't care if I live in a dump. I don't enjoy good clothes. This is the best I've dressed in months.
I don't persuade to suicide.
I gambled and I lost. I failed in securing my options for this choice for myself, but I succeeded in verifying the Dark Age is still with us.
I live cheap, right.
I think most people would pick sudden heart attac,k and in sleep. We assume that's the best way to die, because you never know.
I will admit, like Socrates and Aristotle and Plato and some other philosophers, that there are instances where the death penalty would seem appropriate.
I will go to what they call a court. Only they call it a court.
I'd find it demeaning to be cleaning toilets.
I'm for absolute autonomy of the individual, and an adult, competent woman has absolute autonomy. It's her choice.
It's the boredom that kills you. You read until you're tired of that. You do crossword puzzles until you're tired of that. This is torture. This is mental torture.
Just like everything else, you let any doctor do it, and some are going to abuse, because you've got crooked-some crooked doctors out there.
Let's hope you feel better now.
Listen, when you take my liberty away, you've taken away more-something more precious than life. I mean, what good is a life without liberty? Huh? None.
Look at the forces against me. They don't want me out. They're afraid I'll cause trouble if I get out.
Mandela didn't stay out of prison, neither did Martin Luther King! What's the difference? Were they wrong?
Maybe I won't stay out of prison. Who knows?
My intent was to carry out my duty as a doctor, to end their suffering. Unfortunately, that entailed, in their cases, ending of the life.
My religion centers in different areas than what's considered conventional religion.
None of them want to delay. Understand that. None of them.
Not one has shown an iota of fear of death. They want to end this agony.
Prove it! Cite a case on common law of assisted suicide prosecution. Cite it!
Religion is an internal spiritual world, and I have my own, with my god, Johann Sebastian Bach. I mean, why not?
Rotten travesty. Yeah. Send me to jail for contempt. Try that. Go ahead.
She made the decision that her existence had lost its meaning. And you cannot judge that.
The American people are sheep. They're comfortable, rich, working. It's like the Romans, they're happy with bread and their spectator sports. The Super Bowl means more to them than any right.
The patient decides when it's best to go.
The patient's autonomy always, always should be respected, even if it is absolutely contrary - the decision is contrary to best medical advice and what the physician wants.
The Supreme Court of the United States... has validated the Nazi method of execution in... concentration camps, starving them to death.
There is nothing anyone can do anyway. The public has no power. The government knows I'm not a criminal. The parole board knows I'm not a criminal. The judge knows I'm not a criminal.
There's no doubt I expect to die in prison.
They take away their feeding and water when they're in coma and let them die. I mean, you're validating what the Nazis did in concentration camps.
They've inhibited-taken my license away. They suspended it, made it tough for me to get any drugs. And-and then, when I use gas, they scorn it. Oh, come on.
This is not a trial. This is a lynching. There is no law.
We're... letting them starve and thirst to death in-in hospitals. The Germans did that in the concentration camps.
What are friends? Some people are nice. Some people aren't. There are some I'm fairly close with... we talk.
What looks like enjoyment is the sneer of contempt. That's not a smile.
When history looks back, it will prove what I'll die knowing.
When you say a person should be allowed to die, inject them quickly and painlessly, not let them wither away and starve to death. That is inconceivable. It's unspeakable.
You can cite me for contempt, Your Honor. I don't care.
You have no right bargaining to get organs from condemned men. If you execute men who want to donate freely and don't take their organs, do that first, and then start the bargaining about other men on death row. The many men on death row are willing to donate organs when they are executed.
You might say I'm a philosophic nut, or a nutty philosopher. It doesn't matter. Words don't mean anything. If you dig into anybody's character, you can find eccentricities if you can-you can characterize as nutty.
You work with doctors and families, and medical colleagues, and all the people involved in it without government or religious intrusion.
You're basing your laws and your whole outlook on natural life on mythology. It won't work. That's why you have all these problems in the world. Name them: India, Pakistan, Ireland. Name them-all these problems. They're all religious problems.
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