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Kevorkian Plan to Speak in Florida May be Too Soon for Parole Board

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  • Kevorkian Plan to Speak in Florida May be Too Soon for Parole Board

    Lifesite, NY -
    Aug 3 2007


    Kevorkian Plan to Speak in Florida May be Too Soon for Parole Board

    By Peter J. Smith

    LANSING, Michigan, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Jack
    Kevorkian may have plans to speak at the University of Florida about
    his life's work of "mercy killing", but the Michigan Parole Board has
    not yet agreed to the euthanasia movement's poster-boy's request to
    leave the state.

    Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections
    told LifeSiteNews.com that the Parole Board has not yet approved
    Kevorkian's request to leave Michigan and first "wanted to give time
    and see how he does."

    "He can't leave the state without written permission and the request
    is still pending," Marlan said. "[The Parole Board] didn't say when
    exactly they would let him go, but they told him to take [the
    engagement] under the advisement that the approval is pending."

    Marlin added that Kevorkian is allowed to lobby for assisted suicide,
    but violates his parole if he gives specific details about assisted
    suicide, such as how he killed people, how to carry-out assisted
    suicide, and how to construct the machine he used.

    "The analogy that his officer used was that he could advocate nuclear
    war, but he couldn't tell people how to make a bomb," Marlin said.

    However the Michigan-based Flint Right to Life has urged pro-lifers
    to generate thousands of calls and spread the word that UF is
    allowing Kevorkian, a convicted murderer, to join its speaker's
    roster for the handsome sum of $50,000.

    Judy Climer, president of Flint Right to Life, spoke with
    LifeSiteNews.com saying that what began as a local campaign in her
    area has gained broader attention across the nation. Climer has urged
    pro-life advocates to contact the University of Florida president
    James Machen to protest Kevorkian's appearance and express concerns
    that UF state and federal funds may be paying for "Dr. Death's" talk.


    Mid-July, LifeSiteNews.com reported that ACCENT, the UF student
    government speaker's bureau, had invited Kevorkian to speak to
    students on October 11.
    (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071703 .html)

    LifeSiteNews.com contacted the ACCENT Speech Bureau today and learned
    that Kevorkian has just signed the contract. While Kevorkian's topic
    has not been finalized, LifeSiteNews.com was told that Kevorkian is
    expected to speak at length about the topic of assisted suicide,
    including his past ten years and time in prison.

    In July ACCENT chairman Steven Blank told LifeSiteNews.com that
    ACCENT is "non-partisan" and chose Kevorkian to add positive
    "diversity" to the roster of speakers. When pressed about whether
    ACCENT would give a racist the same speaking opportunity as a
    convicted murderer like Kevorkian for the sake of "diversity", Blank
    demurred, saying, "Each speaker is taken on a case by case basis."

    "Why on earth would they put a convicted murderer, a felon, in front
    of the student body?" Climer protested. "I'm a former board of
    education member myself. I served 15 years and I would never approve
    my students bringing in a convicted murder to my student body."

    Climer said she was told by UF officials that they couldn't find
    anyone else to debate Kevorkian, but Climer finds that assertion
    unsupportable. Climer said she could easily find a speaker happy to
    debate Kevorkian, either through her own contacts or by working with
    Bobby Schindler of the Terri Schiavo-Schindler Foundation.

    Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schindler-Schiavo - the brain
    injured woman who perished in March 2005 after a court order removed
    her feeding tube at the behest of her husband - is circulating a "Say
    No to Dr. Death" petition for UF administrators.

    Kevorkian's plans for travel and future speaking engagements seem to
    point to a surprising health recovery. Keorkian's lawyer had told the
    Michigan Parole Board in December that he expected Kevorkian had less
    than a year to live. Kevorkian was paroled after serving 8 years of a
    10 to 25 year sentence for the second degree murder of Thomas Youk.
    Youk's assisted suicide was broadcast on "60 Minutes", which led to
    Kevorkian's arrest and the end to a "mercy-killing" career that left
    130 dead.

    To sign the Schiavo Foundation's petition "Say No to Dr. Death":
    http://tool.donation-net.net/entrance/enter.cfm?dn =1068&...

    To contact the University of Florida:

    J. Bernard Machen
    President of University of Florida
    Telephone: 352-392-1311
    E-mail: [email protected]

    ACCENT Speech Bureau
    300-1 JWRU, Room 306
    P.O. Box 118505
    Gainesville, FL 32611-8505
    Tel: 352-392-1665 ext. 306
    Fax: 352-392-8072
    Website: http://www.sg.ufl.edu/accent
    Email: [email protected]
    Press/Upcoming Show Information: 352-392-1665 ext. 411

    Related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

    Doctor "Death" Kevorkian to Speak at Florida University for $50,000
    Speaking Fee
    http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071703. html

    Kevorkian Vows to Push for Assisted Suicide Laws After Upcoming
    Prison Release
    http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/may/07052 301.html


    http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/aug/07080307.h tml
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