In the 1990’s Dr.
Jack Kevorkian was connected with at least 200 deaths, charged with the first
degree murder of Janet Adkins, and the second degree murder of Thomas Youk. By
the end of the decade Jack Kevorkian was serving a 10-25 year sentence. In
those years the concept of euthanasia was first explored and even became a
household word. The trial ended ten years ago, yet little has been decided.
Much of the United States
remains undecided on the issue and an alarming number of people are unaware of
the argument. While the name “Kevorkian” is still widely recognized, the assisted
suicide movement seems to have subsided.
Wesley J. Smith, a
writer for the National Review, has
written a number of editorials discussing his opinions on the topic of
euthanasia and assisted suicide. In Dying
cause he takes on the tone of a small town preacher. The overall tone of
this article is very unsupportive of assisted suicide and the author writes as
though his audience already agrees. While he does allow both sides to be
revealed, he uses a sarcastic tone while discussing the opposition’s point of
view. Throughout, the article remains clear that he is not a supporter of assisted
suicide even when he is discussing supporting information.
In his article
Smith states, “In my ten years as an activist opposing assisted suicide, I
first saw the pendulum swing broadly in favor of legalization, and then, in
recent years, breathed a sigh of relief as it ever-so-slowly moved back against
it.”
The author used
appropriate tone throughout the article; however, the author also seemed bias
toward the issue with the change in tone. This article and periodical is generally
made for adult generations so the tone and audience seemed appropriate for the
anticipated audience.
Ironically, the
author claims that the most important factor in the public's shift away from
assisted suicide has been the removal of religion as the primary flashpoint of
the debate. The removal occurred when the disability-rights advocates began to
take the spotlight, however this only creates another point of view to
consider.
Easily, the most recognizable
name in assisted suicide since Socrates has been Jack, Doctor Death, Kevorkian.
Smith claims that the other factor that has damaged the assisted-suicide
movement is Dr. Kevorkian himself because 70 percent of Kevorkian's
"patients" were not terminally ill. According to the autopsies 5 had
no medical sickness of any kind. The author does an excellent job of making his
claims clear but the supporting details can be murky at times. Nevertheless, a
moving ethical argument is made and the reader is encouraged to consider both
sides.
One issue with the
overall credibility of this article lies in the author’s citations; of which
there are none. How can the reader hope to see the information to which the
author refers? The author fails to cite
any of the information in this passage, which is used as a major arguing point:
“The other factor that has damaged the assisted-suicide movement, surprisingly,
appears to have been Jack Kevorkian…. Yet, over 70 percent of Kevorkian's
"patients" were not even terminally ill. (Five weren't sick at all,
according to the autopsies.)”
The article is ripe
with opinion and emotional persuasion, it can sometimes lack evidence. The author states that “Oregon voters passed Measure 16 in 1994 by a
bare 51-to-49 majority after supporters of assisted suicide mounted an
explicitly anti-Catholic campaign.” The author has the tendency to augment the
effect of his statistics with opinion and one may wonder exactly what an
“anti-Catholic campaign” is.
The debate may be
calmer now than it has been in the past; however, times: they are a changin’. It
is important that the assisted suicide debate stays alive for new generations
to consider. If nothing else the author does a good job of reviving the
discussion associated with a social problem, a quality for which the United
States claims to be famous.
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