Kevorkian Says "No" to Future Assisted Suicides?

Besides the obvious love Mike Wallace apparently has for Kevorkian (two-thirds of the way through the interview Kevorkian had to ask Wallace to get tough with him), the 60 Minutes interview on Sunday was probably the most positive portrayal of assisted suicide I've seen in the mainstream media in a long time.

Kevorkian went to prison because of Thomas Youk. Youk, who had Lou Gehrig's disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS), had written to Kevorkian asking for his "help" and, because of his condition, Kevorkian decided that Youk should be the test case for active euthanasia. Kevorkian gave Youk a series of injections: first Seconal to knock him out, then one to paralyze his muscles (so he couldn't breathe) and then a third, potassium chloride, to stop his heart.

Of course Wallace painted all of this in the best possible light. Kevorkian comes across as the long-suffering hero, the compassionate murderer to paraphrase Wallace. Even Youk's family is grateful to Kevorkian for his services.

I don't disagree that Thomas Youk had advanced in his condition to the point where he had difficulty with controlling his muscles and was afraid of choking to death because he couldn't swallow. But where was his physician in all of this? Did 60 Minutes even contact his doctor to get his opinion of Youk's condition? What about the many people with ALS who lead very full lives even up to the end?

Youk, like many other Americans with debilitating, chronic or terminal conditions, was likely depressed. But because he wasn't twenty and perfectly healthy, he was automatically a candidate for euthanasia.

Kevorkian has vowed not to assist in any more suicides as part of his probation but he's promised before not to do them so we'll see whether he keeps his promise this time.