Freedom has a price. Most people aren't willing to pay it.
Jack Kevorkian
The patient's autonomy always, always should be respected, even if it is absolutely contrary - the decision is contrary to best medical advice and what the physician wants.
My intent was to carry out my duty as a doctor, to end their suffering. Unfortunately, that entailed, in their cases, ending of the life.
Not one has shown an iota of fear of death. They want to end this agony.
I will admit, like Socrates and Aristotle and Plato and some other philosophers, that there are instances where the death penalty would seem appropriate.
If you don't have liberty and self-determination, you've got nothing, that's what this is what this country is built on. And this is the ultimate self-determination, when you determine how and when you're going to die when you're suffering.
I am not a sentimental person.
You can cite me for contempt, Your Honor. I don't care.
Yes, we need euthanasia, for certain cases where people are in comas or too immobile to even press a button.
I think the Supreme Court does have the authority, which is not used, to declare a blanket right for all people, all adults.
A transfer of money should never be involved in this profound situation. Although illness is profound, too, but medicine's a business today. It's a business.
My ultimate aim is to make euthanasia a positive experience.
It's the boredom that kills you. You read until you're tired of that. You do crossword puzzles until you're tired of that. This is torture. This is mental torture.
What I think a doctor should do is prevent disease, by any means necessary.
I didn't do this for other people; I did this for me. I fought for this right for me - does that sound selfish?
Among doctors in general, I think more than half support what I'm doing.
The American people are sheep. They're comfortable, rich, working. It's like the Romans, they're happy with bread and their spectator sports. The Super Bowl means more to them than any right.
What looks like enjoyment is the sneer of contempt. That's not a smile.
As a medical doctor, it is my duty to evaluate the situation with as much data as I can gather and as much expertise as I have and as much experience as I have to determine whether or not the wish of the patient is medically justified.
She made the decision that her existence had lost its meaning. And you cannot judge that.
First of all, do any of you here think it's a crime to help a suffering human end his agony? Any of you think it is? Say so right now. Well, then, what are we doing here?
All the big powers they've silenced me. So much for free speech and choice on this fundamental human right.
I'm trying to knock the medical profession into accepting its responsibilities, and those responsibilities include assisting their patients with death.
Let's hope you feel better now.
The law is cruel.
When history looks back, it will prove what I'll die knowing.
Listen, when you take my liberty away, you've taken away more-something more precious than life. I mean, what good is a life without liberty? Huh? None.
I hate to say this, but I'll repeat it: After death, all we know that you do is stink.
Everyone is going to die.
I can paint in jail.
I have a natural right to do whatever I want with my body... as long as it doesn't affect anybody else or any other property.
I don't enjoy good food. I don't enjoy flashy cars. I don't care if I live in a dump. I don't enjoy good clothes. This is the best I've dressed in months.
How can you regret helping a suffering patient?
Anytime you interfere with a natural process, you're playing God. God determines what happens naturally. That means when a person's ill, he shouldn't go to a doctor because he's asking for interference with God's will. But of course, patients can't think that way.
There's no doubt I expect to die in prison.
There is nothing anyone can do anyway. The public has no power. The government knows I'm not a criminal. The parole board knows I'm not a criminal. The judge knows I'm not a criminal.
Look at the forces against me. They don't want me out. They're afraid I'll cause trouble if I get out.
None of them want to delay. Understand that. None of them.
When your conscience says law is immoral, don't follow it.
I will go to what they call a court. Only they call it a court.
I suppose, if helping a patient die is killing, I suppose I'm a killer.
Maybe I won't stay out of prison. Who knows?
Rotten travesty. Yeah. Send me to jail for contempt. Try that. Go ahead.
If Christ can die in a barn, I think the death of a human in a van is not so bad.
This is not a trial. This is a lynching. There is no law.
What are friends? Some people are nice. Some people aren't. There are some I'm fairly close with... we talk.
I gambled and I lost. I failed in securing my options for this choice for myself, but I succeeded in verifying the Dark Age is still with us.
You're basing your laws and your whole outlook on natural life on mythology. It won't work. That's why you have all these problems in the world. Name them: India, Pakistan, Ireland. Name them-all these problems. They're all religious problems.
I'm not a romantic.
I want some colleague to be free to come help me when I say the time has come. That's what I'm fighting for, me. Now that sounds selfish. And if it helps somebody else, so be it.
