29/3/99 - MEDIA RELEASE KEVORKIAN VERDICT PROTECTS THE WEAK, THE SICK AND THE DISABLED AS WELL AS THOSE WHO ARE STRONG AND HEALTHY. The result of the recent Kevorkian court case should be another red light to the South African Law Commission not to pursue its recommendations to legalise euthanasia. That is, in case they have not heeded the warning by the South African Medical Association (SAMA) to put a hold on their recommendation. Anybody who will ever be a patient - which is to say everybody - should celebrate Kevorkian’s conviction. Doctors For Life commend the court for having stopped Kevorkian’s relentless killing campaign. It is amazing that Kevorkian has managed to escape conviction for murder in the past, in spite of having killed about 130 people up till now. Kevorkian, who has become the guru for the advocates of euthanasia, has never tried to hide his disdain for the disabled. He has often stated that paraplegics and quadriplegics are "pathological" if they do not want to die. In his book "Prescription Medicine" he argued that doctors should be allowed to assist in belief-driven mass suicide. Referencing the 900 Jonestown cultist’s mass suicide, he suggests that professionals such as himself should be permitted to do the killing, to allow the bodies to be handled in a respectful, proper way after a serene death in an orderly clinical setting. For now, the medical profession in America can commit themselves to caring for patients, not killing them. Doctors For Life calls upon all those who are of good will to unite to improve care for our sick: getting existing pain relief techniques to patients in discomfort, improving the screening and training of depression, preventing the demoralisation among those fighting disease and supporting hospice care for the families who need it. We commit ourselves to commence training doctors on pain management. Doctors For Life is an organisation of about 600 plus doctors, specialists and professors of medicine from medical faculties across our country. For more information contact: Dr A. van Eeden at: Tel: (031) 764-0443 |
| You are viewing this
page from one of the Doctors For Life web sites. To return to the site you
were visiting, close this window. All Materials ©2004 Doctors For Life International unless otherwise noted. |