American television viewers will today watch a shocking video of a man dying on camera, as doctor-assisted suicide pioneer Jack Kevorkian dares the authorities to take him to court.
The controversial footage of a recent patient of the Michigan mercy killer known as 'Doctor Death', which is being aired on CBS' Sixty Minutes, has already incited heated debate.
The Catholic archdiocese of Detroit has urged affiliate CBS stations across the nation not to air the broadcast, which will show Dr Kevorkian administering a lethal injection to a 52-year-old man who was crippled with the paralysing Lou Gehrig's disease.
Viewers will see the Michigan man, Thomas Youk, quietly pass away, and the filmed segment includes interviews with members of his family and with Dr Kevorkian, who urges local prosecutors to take another shot at indicting him for euthanasia.
The doctor, extremely popular all around the country for his willingness to defy laws banning assisted suicide, has been prosecuted four times in Michigan - each time unsuccessfully.
But the televised case shows him taking a risky extra step. In the 120 previous aided suicides for which he has taken responsibility, Dr Kevorkian provided a home-made machine containing a combination of lethal chemicals and asked the patient to trip the switch to administer the fluids.