It shows that the public has a 15-minute attention span. Reporters, of course, are part of that public. Every reporter who comes to Kevorkian coverage is new, not realizing the story has a history. Kaplan, who has been doing research on Kevorkian's career since 1996, isn't surprised that the memories of the press and public fade or distort. One of his research projects involved looking at attitudes and beliefs relating to Kevorkian and assisted suicide.
Liberals tend to underestimate the number of women and overestimate the pain.
Kaplan also expressed sentiments familiar to many of us in the disability community. The liberals think that these people are suffering and that society is keeping them from exercising their sacred right. Conservatives, on the other hand, feel that these people don't have a right to assisted suicide, but don't want to give the resources necessary to live with their condition. They talk about sacredness of life,' but won't put their money where their mouth is. Still, in a phone interview, Cohen acknowledged that the findings should not have been that big a surprise to people.