After several trials and acquittals, Jack Kevorkian killed his last patient, Thomas Youk, with a lethal injection and taped the incident for the show 60 Minutes.
RLM succeeded in getting a permanent ban passed on assisted suicide, as well as laws promoting better pain management for patients suffering from a terminal illness.
Proponents sought to legalize assisted suicide in Michigan with Proposal B. In response, Right to Life of Michigan formed Citizens for Compassionate Care, a broad coalition to defeat it. In September, polls had Proposal B winning by a safe margin. However, after a massive public information campaign exposing the dangers lurking in the proposal, Proposal B fell to a devastating defeat in November by 71% of voters.
Despite the focus on euthanasia, Michigan passed several notable prolife laws in 1998, including the first human cloning ban in the country. The Prenatal Protection Act also passed, giving legal protection to an unborn child when a criminal action against a pregnant woman results in the child’s death or injury.