Jack Kevorkian will leave jail on parole today and step into a world like the one he left eight years ago - when he was convicted of second-degree murder.

Assisted-suicide advocates are still pushing to pass laws in states that make physician-assisted suicide legal. Bills have failed to pass in Wisconsin, Hawaii and Washington, and voters have rejected ballots in Michigan, California and Maine. Along with fighting to get assisted-suicide legalized, these advocates are working to distance themselves from Kevorkian.

Kevorkian said he helped more than 130 people die between 1990-98. It is not the number fellow assisted-suicide advocates have a problem with, but his methods. Often, Kevorkian would leave bodies in a motel room to be found, or drop them off at hospital emergency rooms and coroner offices. Studies also have questioned whether Kevorkian did thorough screening of his patients to make sure they were not suffering from depression or other mental diseases.

Although Kevorkian did not always help the cause, he did help bring the right-to-die movement to everyone's attention.

Terminally ill patients should have the choice to end their pain and suffering. Every competent adult in Michigan is allowed to sign a do-not-resuscitate order, if they would like, because any adult can refuse treatment at any time.

This is much like requesting assisted suicide.

Both cases require the approval of a physician. Each scenario is simply a competent adult requesting to bypass any pain and suffering, and hasten the death they ultimately face.

In Oregon, there is a law that has been in effect since 1997. It allows terminally ill patients to end their lives with prescribed drugs from their physician.

The patient must be a competent adult, and must request the medication twice orally and once in writing before it can be prescribed.

Although opponents feel a law like Oregon's will have hundreds asking for the medicine, only 292 people have asked for the drug since 1997.

Another argument of opponents deals directly with abortion. The value of life comes into question, and many people believe it should not be an individual's choice to end a life.

It is necessary for a physician to care for those who are at the end of their life to the best of their ability - and that includes prescribing life-ending drugs. End-of-life care should be about easing the pain and suffering of the terminally ill and, if requested as a last resort, a person should be able to choose to die.

Kevorkian may be considered a monster by many, but there are still those who appreciate what he has done.