A June incident in which Dr. Jack Kevorkian helped a 45-year-old quadriplegic commit suicide and then offered the man's kidneys for transplantation has led to more trouble for the retired Michigan pathologist.
On June 9, a Michigan judge said that Kevorkian faces jail time if he participates in any more assisted suicides while he is still on bond relating to a May incident for which he is charged with assaulting a Royal Oak police officer in a hospital parking lot. The judge, who ruled that Kevorkian's participation in the June suicide violated the bond, also ordered Kevorkian to stay away from William Beaumont Hospital.
The Michigan legislature also has taken measures to put Kevorkian out of business. On July 2, the legislature passed a ban on assisted suicide that is expected to take effect on September 1. A temporary ban on assisted suicide that was implemented in Michigan in 1992 expired more than three years ago.
The new ban, however, could be short-lived. In November, Michigan voters will vote on a referendum that could legalize physician-assisted suicide. If passed, the referendum would override the legislature's ban, according to the Associated Press.
Kevorkian's offer to donate the kidneys of the man who died in June led one of his lawyers to quit. Although attorney Michael Odette said he believes in assisted suicide, he said that Kevorkian "went too far" when he offered suicide victim's kidneys for transplantation, the Associated Press reported on June 29. The kidneys went unclaimed.
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