Robinson 1
Maddie Robinson
Dr. Christina Wright
English 1102
23 October 2010
Jack Kevorkian-Annotated Bibliography
Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. "Assisted Suicide: A Right or a
Wrong?." Santa Clara University. Markkula Center for Applied
Ethics, 2010. Web. 23 Oct 2010.
<http://scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n1/suicide.html>. The
moral, ethical, and legal standpoints, both right and wrong, are
presented on assisted suicide. They argue that people should be
allowed to die with dignity and how it is inhuman e to ignore their
pleas for death. However, they counter argue by asking what will
k e e p p e o p l e f r o m a s s i s t i n g i n t h e d e a t h o f a n yo n e d e e m e d w o r t h l e s s
or undesirable. The website presented both sides of the argument,
which helped me to see it from different perspectives. But, who is
to say which side is wrong and which side is right?
"Assisted Suicide Laws State By State." Euthanasia.com. N.p., 2010.
W e b . 2 3 O c t 2 0 1 0 . < h t t p : / / e u t h a n a s i a . c o m / b ys t a t e . h t m l > . T h e r e a r e
fifty states in the United States and only two permit physician assisted suicide. But I was wondering what the other forty -eight
states’ laws were about the issue. The source lists the laws for each
state, and surprisingly there are a handful of states that do not have
laws against it, but have la ws against the people who aid in the
assisted suicide.
Belkin, Lisa. "Doctor Tells of First Death Using His Suicide Device." The
N e w Y o r k T i m e s . T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s C o m p a n y, 0 6 J u n 1 9 9 0 . W e b .
2 3 O c t 2 0 1 0 . < h t t p : / / w w w . n yt i m e s . c o m / 1 9 9 0 / 0 6 / 0 6 / u s / d o c t o r - t e l l s of-first-death-using-his-suicidedevice.html?scp=1&sq=doctor%20tells%20of%20first%20death%20u
sing%20his%20suicide%20device&st=cse>. This particular article
was one of the first about Dr. Kevorkian. He discu sses the death of
Janet Adkins. He discloses his procedure with the three different
chemicals, and how it was not murder, because she administered the
Robinson 2
fatal chemical. The article is helpful, because it gave me and insight
into his thinking about assisted s uicide. It also discussed wh y he did
what he doing.
H u m p h r e y, D e r e k . " A s s i s t e d S u i c i d e L a w s A r o u n d t h e W o r l d . " A s s i s t e d
Suicide. Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization, 01 Mar
2005. Web. 23 Oct 2010.
<http://assistedsuicide.org/suicide_laws.html>. Dr. Kevorkian was
not the only one to experiment and to help people commit assisted
suicide. Many countries around the world have laws either
preventing or authorizing the practice. Some countries, the laws are
clearly stated and others unclear. The author w as very confusing
with the article with all the different countries, but I was surprised
by the fact that so many places in the world are plagued by this
problem.
H u m p h r y, D e r e k . " W h a t d o yo u c a l l a n d a s s i s t e d d e a t h ? . " A s s i s t e d
Suicide. Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization, 09 Nov
2 0 0 6 . W e b . 2 3 O c t 2 0 1 0 . < h t t p : / / a s s i s t e d s u i c i d e . o r g / w h a t - d o - yo u call-an-assisted -death.html>. In this article, Humphry mostly
discusses the law in Oregon concerning the matter of assisted
suicide. He addresses misconceptio ns about the law. He also states
the difference between a medically assisted suicide and an assisted
suicide done without the help of medicine. It mostly just explained
the law to me.
"Jack Kevorkian." Bio.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 23 Oct
2 0 1 0 . < h t t p : / / w w w . b i o g r a p h y. c o m / a r t i c l e s / J a c k - K e v o r k i a n - 9 3 6 4 1 4 1 > .
His biography really went into detail about what led him to create
the machine for helping people to commit assisted suicide. His prior
experiments led him to being kicked out of the program at the
University of Michigan Medical Center. After helping Janet Adkins
to die, Michigan outlawed the practice, designed to stop him
s p e c i f i c a l l y. T h e b i o g r a p h y g a v e m e a l o t o f u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t
could be used in the final paper.
" J a c k K e v o r k i a n . " N N D B . S o yl e n t C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , 2 0 1 0 . W e b . 2 3 O c t
2010. <http://www.nndb.com/people/272/000023203/>. It was a
short biography of his work in the medical field. It did not give
any useful information.
Robinson 3
Pickert, Kate. "A Brief History of Assisted Suicide." Time. Time
Incorporated, 03 Mar 2009. Web. 23 Oct 2010.
< h t t p : / / w w w . t i m e . c o m / t i m e / n a t i o n / a r t i c l e / 0 , 8 5 9 9 , 1 8 8 2 6 8 4 > . It is a
brief overview of the history of assisted suicide. It explains the difference between
assisted suicide and “right-to-die.” The article refers to the case of Terri Schiavo and the
legal battle over her life. The writer mostly discusses “right-to-die” more than assisted
suicide and therefore was not useful.
R o b i n s o n , B r u c e A . " P h ys i c i a n A s s i s t e d S u i c i d e ( P A S ) . " R e l i g i o u s
Tolerance. Ontario Consultants, 06 Mar 2009. Web. 23 Oct 2010.
<http://www.religioustolerance.org/euth_us3.htm>. This particular
article mostly focuses on the legal battles in the United States over
the practice. The Supreme Court finally ruled that the states have
the right to decided whether or not to allow assisted suicide to be
practiced. The article had a few good points, but re peated a lot of
the same points as previous articles.
Y a r d l e y, W i l l i a m . " R e p o r t F i n d s 3 6 D e a d U n d e r A s s i s t e d S u i c d e L a w . "
T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s . T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s C o m p a n y, 0 4 M a r 2 0 1 0 .
Web. 23 Oct 2010.
< h t t p : / / w w w . n yt i m e s . c o m / 2 0 1 0 / 0 3 / 0 5 / u s / 0 5 s u i c i d e . h t m l ? _ r = 1 & s c p
=1&sq=reports%20finds%2036%20died%20under%20assisted%20su
icide%20law&st=cse>. The New York Times discusses the after
affects of the law passed in Oregon and Washington allowing
assisted suicide. It mentions other states that are seeking to make
the practice legal in their states as well. It also stated that a total
of four hundred sixty patients have died in Oregon under the law.
The article stands as a good , recent reference and gives the updates
s i n c e l a w s w e r e i n i t i a l l y p a s s e d ye a r s a g o .