Legalizing Death With Dignity By Brittany Maynard

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Helena Ma Ms. Pankratz AP Language Period 2B 5 March 2015 Legalizing Death with Dignity At suffering from months of debilitating headaches, Brittany Maynard learned she had brain cancer (Maynard). She was 29. Just married. And just trying to have a family. Her life turned into a saga of hospital stays where she underwent several surgeries to stop the growth of the tumor. They were unsuccessful and her doctors gave her a prognosis of six months to live. The doctors gave her the option of having full brain radiation. It wouldn’t necessarily save her life, but it would possibly extend the time. However, the quality of her life would be greatly diminished and she would have to suffer from the side effects including loss of hair and a burnt scalp. Because the rest of her body was young and healthy, she would likely have to physically hang on for awhile as the cancer ate her brain. So instead, she chose death with dignity. She uprooted her life and moved from California to Oregon which is one of three states that legalizes death with dignity. Death with dignity is a term to describe the process when terminally ill patients who are facing an imminent death choose to shorten the dying process and seek medication that would give them a peaceful and dignified death (Ubel). These patients do not want to die but find the dying process too painful and unbearable. Many of these terminally ill patients do not ingest the medication even after they’ve obtained it. However, they find great comfort in that option. For those who do take the medication, they are able to die in a way consistent with their beliefs and they are able to exercise the autonomy consistent with how they lived their whole life. Death with dignity should be legalized throug... ... middle of paper ... ...o through when they are in their final stages. In addition, because the lethal medication is always to be requested and not encouraged by a doctor, requesting death with dignity gives patients a feeling of autonomy and power as they do have some control over their last parts of life during a time when they usually feel helpless. With proper legislation and training for professionals, death with dignity could be properly regulated and not be abused. The Death With Dignity Acts found in the states that have already legalized it have been successful with giving terminally ill the rights and choices they deserve while also have specific and strict guidelines. The rest of the country should take these states as role models because it still remains that legalizing death with dignity across the nation would benefit a lot of people who are suffering from a terminal illness.

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