Dr Death

The note below was received the other day from "BlogsforTerri":

After his release from prison on June 1 for "good behavior," Jack Kevorkian, a.k.a. Dr. Death, resumed his promotion of assisted suicide as a humane conclusion for the terminally ill. He told Larry King that he felt it was important to speak to young people in high school and college about these issues.

Apparently the University of Florida agrees. According to the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, Dr. Kevorkian, a convicted felon and defrocked doctor, is scheduled to speak to the students there and will be paid $50,000 to do so by the University of Florida student government association.

The Foundation has released an alert and has posted an online petition that asks the University rescind the invitation to Kevorkian. Would you take a moment to consider signing it? (click here)

As you do, consider how inappropriate it is for Kevorkian to be treated as a crusader for patient's rights given his distorted view of human dignity and role in the deaths of numerous patients (he claimed participation in 130 suicides and challenged prosecutors to issue charges).

A Michigan judge in 1999 sentenced Kevorkian to 10 to 25 years in prison for second degree murder and three to seven years for delivery of a controlled substance. At the time, he was denied bail due to his vow to keep assisting patient suicides.

Kevorkian is now out of prison, having agreed to stop directly helping people commit suicide he continues to exploit the publicity of his premature release by promoting the actions that landed him in prison.

Again, please take a few minutes to consider the online petition that asks the University of Florida to remove this unrepentant felon from the podium.