I needed to take a couple of journalism electives in order to fulfill my graduation requirements, and I happened to stumble upon a class called “Law and Ethics in the Mass Media.”
Each week, our professor begins class by asking us what’s on our minds. We usually bring up high-profile news stories like the Ray Rice charges or the latest information on ISIS and the Ebola outbreak. However, a story was brought up last week that was different from the others and really caught my attention: the story of Brittany Maynard.
Brittany Maynard is a 29 year-old newlywed who is dying from the most aggressive form of brain cancer. She was diagnosed in January 2014 with glioblastoma multiforme and was told by doctors in April that she had six months left to live. She has chosen to end her own life on November 1, 2014 through the Death with Dignity Act, and her decision has sparked significant controversy.
The Death with Dignity Act is only legal in five states – Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and New Mexico. This act allows the terminally ill to end their lives through voluntary self-administration of lethal medications prescribed by a physician. Maynard, originally from California, uprooted her life and moved to Oregon in order to become a candidate.
Maynard is not suicidal and doesn’t want to die. She believes that she is choosing to go in a way that is with less suffering and pain. She said, “When people use the word suicide, it’s just highly inflammatory and just incorrect because I am already dying from cancer. And people who commit suicide are typically people who want to die and are killing themselves. I’m not killing myself. Cancer is killing me.”
Maynard understands that people disagree with her decision, and she’s okay with it. She sees Death with Dignity as an option that has provided a lot of relief and says that the beauty of it is that the patient can always change their mind. However, she has made up her mind and mapped out her final moment. “I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mother and my husband by my side, and pass peacefully with some music I like in the background,” she explained.
There are many who have publicly criticized Maynard for her actions. They tell her that there is beauty in death and suffering, and that she is robbing her loved ones of precious time and final moments. They argue that she is giving up and not fighting hard enough. Others support her and commend her bravery and efforts to help pass Death with Dignity laws in more states.
This is a hard concept to wrap the mind around and not something that can be easily answered without being in the situation. I have my own thoughts and opinions, but what do you believe? Should Death with Dignity be allowed in more than just five states? Is Brittany Maynard a hero, or is she surrendering the fight?
Search “The Brittany Maynard Fund” on YouTube for more information about this story and to hear thoughts from Maynard herself.
