PUT JACK IN JAIL
It took 17 deaths before a Michigan prosecutor finally decided to charge Jack Kevorkian of assisting in a suicide. Kevorkian has clearly broken the law and should serve the four years in prison but it does not seem likely he will serve any time. Kevorkian’s lawyer Geoffrey Fieger has publicly dared prosecutors to charge his client and appears ready to challenge the law à la Henry Morgentaler. Even Wayne County prosecutor John O’Hair has mentioned that he supports the concept of assisted suicide and will not be seeking a jail term. However, he pointed out that because Kevorkian has publicly admitted to breaking the law “if the jury follows the oath and the law, they have no choice but to convict.” We’ve seen this situation so many times before to know that it seldom works this way.
AN INTERESTING CASE
A recent drive-by shooting in the Los Angeles area has sparked the interest of those who support the rights of unborn children. The Wanderer reports that during this shooting a pregnant woman was injured and suffered a resulting miscarriage. The five accused have all been charged with fetus murder. A guilty verdict in this case would certainly raise the interesting question as to why it’s murder if the baby is “wanted” but a choice if the baby is “unwanted.” Anne Kindt, executive director of the Right to Life League of Southern California says that the charge is “a recognition that what resides in the womb is a person.” Both sides will be closely monitoring the decision.
HOLLYWOOD HARASSMENT
Earlier this month, actor Mel Gibson was honoured in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. There, the Australian heartthrob stuck his cowboy boots and hands into wet cement to leave his mark on Hollywood’s storied “Walk of Fame.” Gibson who has starred in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, and is currently starring in The Man Without a Face, is a practicing Catholic whose views on abortion, homosexuality and contraception anger many in the Hollywood elite. About fifteen protestors were on hand to disrupt the ceremony, carrying signs which read, “Anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-choice. That’s not entertainment.” Heck, Mel draws twice that number when he takes out the garbage on Monday mornings.
MORGENTALER AIDE CHARGED
A FORMER ASSOCIATE OF Henry Morgentaler is facing the possibility of losing he doctor’s licence. Leslie Smoling, 65, who worked the suction machine at Morgentaler’s Toronto Harbord St. abortuary, has been charged with trafficking tranquilizers and painkillers to the point of putting patients at risk of death, overdose and addiction. Smoling has had a dubious career since he came to Canada in 1957. In 1968 he was charged with performing illegal abortions and skipped the country for 10 years until the charges were dropped. Upon his return, a hospital in Woodstock refused to give him hospital privileges claiming his emergency room demeanor was unacceptable. Now, his tranquilizer trafficking could finally put an end to his disastrous run. As they say, once a bottom feeder, always a bottom feeder.
ABORTION AD CONTROVERSIAL
A Roman Catholic priest from Mobile, Alabama was refused permission to buy an advertisement in the local paper. The ad questioned whether the shooting of an abortionist was justifiable homicide. Rev. David Trosch designed the ad which depicted a doctor about to perform an abortion, and another man with a gun pointed at the abortionist’s head. The Mobile Press Register refused to print the ad thinking it too controversial. Fr. Trosch defended the ad saying “If 100 doctors need to die to save over one million babies a year, I see it as a fair trade.” Pro-life reaction was, for the most part, unified. Many could understand Trosch’s frustration but most felt he was carrying these frustrations too far. Both Church officials and Trosch’s own Archbishop, Lipscomb, refused to back him, saying the ad was contrary to Church teachings.
