California became yet another state to pass a bill legalizing assisted suicide. California is the fifth state to pass laws in support of assisted suicide. The procedure is called euthanasia and has been a controversial topic for decades now.
The bill will allow a medical professional to prescribe lethal medicines to patients who are mentally competent and diagnosed with a terminal illness that will claim their life within a six month period. There are safeguards in place to prevent the abuse of this law, including two oral requests with a designated time period between each and witnesses of this assertion and two doctors to confirm the need for euthanasia.
The activist organization, Death with Dignity, is a major force behind the Death with Dignity Act. The driving point in their battle for the right to euthanasia is their respect for death by one’s own terms. This viewpoint embodies an appreciation for the freedom to choose the way one lives and dies. Supporters of euthanasia argue that feeling in control is an essential aspect to have some semblance of peace at death.
On the other hand, organizations like American Life League stand firmly in their belief of the moral and religious evilness of the procedure. The crowd in opposition of euthanasia emphasizes the sanctity of all human life and question the procedure's potential for misuse.
According to the LA Times, the law will come into effect sometime next year. Its aim is to provide comfort to those seeking an end to suffering. The option of a legal death is a welcomed relief to many terminal patients, however, how dark or disturbing it may seem to outsiders.
Euthanasia advocate, Brittany Maynard, served as the figurehead to the movement. A terminally ill woman herself, Maynard understood the full implications of assisted suicide and strove forward as an advocate of the right to choose.
"I am not suicidal. If I were, I would have consumed that medication long ago. I do not want to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms." Maynard fought for her right to die when she felt the time was right, surrounded by her loved ones, and in a place of her choice. When addressing assisted suicide for others, she said, "If you ever find yourself walking a mile in my shoes, I hope that you would at least be given the same choice and that no one tries to take it from you," she wrote in this CNN post.
Brittany Maynard, (1984-2014).
