European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday May 29, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Ellen Goodman Stop or. Ripper before he strikes again put aside the Subtle arguments about the right to die. Shelve the intricate ethical questions about doctor assisted suicide. Jack Kevorkian is on the Loose again. The state of Michigan has a serial killer on its hands. Or a serial mercy killer. Or a serial aide and abettor to suicide. Choose one of the above. But the distinctions Are becoming More blurred All the time. Kevorkian trained pathologist and self proclaimed a a thinks of himself As a Maverick and Martyr in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi. Or. Death the Man with the motive a a my motto is a rational policy of planned death a believes he a a crusader like Martin Luther King or. But As the count of the dead grows he looks a lot More like Jack the Ripper . First on the list of Kevorkian a patient victims Back in 1990 was Janet Adkins a woman with alzheimer a who pushed the Button on the machine in his suicide Mobile in a Park. For this death Kevorkian was charged with and acquitted of first degree homicide. It was ruled that she killed herself and there was no state Law against physician assisted suicide. Then last fall came Sherry Miller and Marjorie Wantz one with multiple sclerosis the other with chronic vaginal pain. For his involvement with these deaths he was indicted again for murder and is awaiting trial. Now there is Susan Williams. On May 15, while out on bail Kevorkian provided the Gas canister and hands off technical assistance to a 52-year-old woman crippled by multiple sclerosis. He was there a on a suicide House Call a when she put on the mask pulled the handle and breathed the Carbon monoxide. Each of these women wanted to die. Each of them was grateful polite Replete with thank yous to the Man who provided them with the Means. But that does no to diminish the fact that Kevorkian has become an ethical outlaw a free Lance death dealer providing paraphernalia and know How to the users. When Janet Adkins decided to take her life before she lost her mind she saw suicide As a preemptive strike against a Bleak alzheimer a future. In the debate that followed Kevorkian a bizarre personality seemed like a distraction from Central questions about life and death and Medicine. The Adkins Case ratcheted up the National discussion on everything from disconnecting life support to aiding suicide. Since then Derek Humphry show to kill yourself Book final exit has become a Surprise Best seller. The state of Washington proposed Ana Defeated a referendum that would have allowed doctors to assist suicides in carefully defined cases of terminally ill patients. In intimate conversations Over living wills families have discussed the conditions under which they want to live and die. In Public forums doctors have been called to reconsider their role at the end of a life. There is my Vii Tamlyn Icv or 3 appropriate debate about How and when a doctor might help us out of a lingering death. Now Jack strikes again. This time the sensitivity about life and death and Medicine can Only distract attention from the Central question about Kevorkian. Janet Sherry Marjorie and Susan were not terminal by accepted medical definitions. Janet Sherry Marjorie and Susan a is it a coincidence that they Are All women a were not Kevorkian a patients in any traditional sense. He has no More right to wander around Michigan offering death to ill women than he has to put loaded guns in the hands of depressed teen agers. As ethicist George Annas of Boston University says sharply a the does no to have a doctor patient relationship with these people. He a not there for treatment or diagnosis. He does no to give them alternatives or reasons to live. He a there to Nelp you the Only question now says Annas is a whether he should be in a mental institution or a the rebel and provocateur has so far frustrated the states attempts to control him. He a been prosecuted As a criminal and had his License to practice Medicine revoked. He a kept one step ahead of the Legislatures attempts to write a Bill outlawing physician assisted suicide. As Long As Janet Sherry Marjorie and Susan pushed the Button he May not be guilty of first degree murder. But he has provided the Means and recklessly endangered lives. If nothing else that a respectable grounds for a manslaughter charge or in this Case worn manslaughter. As Susan Wolf of the Hastings Center says a the number one thing he a doing is killing people. You have to say it As it in 1990, Kevorkian threw Down a Challenge Quot if its Legal let me do it. If its illegal Stop now this renegade a have Carbon monoxide will travel a has issued a new Challenge Stop me before i kill again. That a exactly what Michigan must do. C Tho Boston Globe Anna Quinol Elmurphy Brown a lot More real than Quayle the Days and nights of Danny Quayle Danny triumphs Over another Blooper with Georges help Marlin makes Danny give away the anatomically Correct doll. Marilyn is supportive. As silly and tumultuous last week Drew to a close i had to keep reminding myself that Dan Quayle is a fictional character. That was what got lost in the shuffle As people engaged in fistfights in the streets Over whether Quayle understood family values single parenthood and the Basic plot line of Murphy Brown. You had to Stop and Tell yourself that this was not a real person we were talking about. This was a manufactured character designed to use prime time to stake out some comic territory for a certain View of american life. Of and to serve As the vice president of the United states. Remember a what a waste it is to lose ones mind or not to have a mind you done to honestly think that was an and lib do you the Only thing spontaneous about that line was that it was used on the wrong occasion. He was supposed to save it for sweeps week. America takes television too seriously. It is one thing to Root for Macaulay Cul Kin to Best the forces of evil in Home alone and quite another to believe that Bill Cosby is an obstetrician. On the other hand it is occasionally a Good thing that Reading has fallen upon hard times. Can you imagine what Danes writers might have done with Anna Karenina a it does no to help matters when mrs. Karenina supposedly an aristocrat mocks the importance of marriage by leaving an upstanding bureaucrat for a Young army officer and then has the bad taste to jump in front of a train disrupting her nations rail system. Of course she was a russian which Means she did no to think the Way we do no one really thinks that . Law has led to the explosion of lawyers in this country and their tendency to dress somewhat better than before and no one really believes that cheers is a primary cause of alcoholism. Conservatives believe the Public broadcasting service is part of americans continuing moral degradation but that a Only because of All those men in leotards on live from Lincoln Center. But when people Start acting As though Dan Quayle is a real person we Are in Way Over our Remote controls. Think clearly had you Ever heard of Dan Quayle before he was chosen As vice president Wasny to there a character on All my children from 1985 to 1988 aha playing a bumbling Golf pro at the Pine Valley country club who looked suspiciously like him and what Are we to make of this Short synopsis for a lbs Pilot who a the new Boss the vice president becomes president after a coup by conservatives armed with the second amendment with hilarious results for everyone but the nation. I tried to Call Murphy Brown to see what she thought of All of this. She sounded groggy a combination of nighttime feedings and three Calls from the office to see if she was ready to come Back to work after taking a full five Days off to have a baby. She Hadnot seen the news a actually her exact words were a i Haven to even had time for a Damn Shower a and i had to explain that the vice president had said the show contributed to the erosion of family values because of her decision to have a child alone. A that twit Miles a a she said testily. A the said head have some big Surprise for me right after i gave birth. And i thought it was going to be a fruit Basket. I had no idea it was a spin off. Its a classic to move they get in trouble they try to get out of trouble they just make More trouble. I love Lucy originated the concept with Lucy and Well Fine i said but the vice president gave the impression that he Hadnot a clue about the lives of women and about the kinds of families that exist in 1992. He seemed to be pandering to the right Wing and illustrating his isolation from the real world both at the same time. And the entire administration had to backtrack after someone reminded them that Murphy had chosen to have the baby rather than have an abortion. Did no to she think the whole thing was a bad plot twist for the country a How should i know a she replied in a tired voice. A a in a a fictional a you too so is Dan a Well a said Murphy As i heard gurgles in the background a i May be a fictional character but in a a lot More real than Dan c the new York times
