Speaking engagement earns him $50,000

Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan doctor who has admitted helping at least 130 people to die, plans to run for a seat in the US Congress in this year’s November elections. He will be standing as an independent on a platform of prison reform and honesty in government. Mr Kevorkian was released from jail last year after serving about 8 years of a 10-25-year sentence for helping a man to die. The Oakland County prosecutor, Dave Gorcyca, who sent Kevorkian to prison, called the campaign a "publicity stunt". "To call attention to himself is standard protocol for Jack when he doesn’t have the limelight focused on him," he said. "I would not consider his candidacy to be a legitimate one." However, Democrats are worried Kevorkian could spoil their candidate’s chances of ousting an incumbent Republican. Although Kevorkian has been forbidden to counsel people on how to kill themselves, he is still acting as a booster for assisted suicide. In January he was paid $50,000 for a speaking engagement at the University of Florida at Gainsville. ~ AP, Mar 14

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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