By KATIE KLIMACEK
Opinion Editor
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If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness and only given a few months to live, and at the same time given the choice to live or die, what would you do?
During your last few months of life, you suffered unbearable pain, physical changes and side effects from the medications and illness. At that point would you decide to end the pain, or would you push on?
One Portland, Oregon, resident has been making news due to her decision to take her life after being diagnosed with the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
Brittney Maynard was newly married when she began to suffer from debilitating headaches. After an appointment with her doctor, Maynard was given the news that she had brain cancer and had anywhere from six to ten months to live.
Shortly after the original diagnosis, new scans showed that her cancer had advanced to the most aggressive type of brain cancer, with a life expectancy of about six months.
Maynard and her husband moved to Portland because it is one of only five states that has a Death with Dignity law, which allows patients with terminal illnesses to end their lives peacefully and with pride.
On November 1, only six days after her husband’s birthday, Maynard went through with her decision to end her life on her own terms, in her own bed, surrounded by her loved ones.
From the very beginning, many people have voiced their outrage towards Maynard for her choice to take her own life, saying that she is not giving it enough time, she is being selfish, what she is doing is a sin, and she should be ashamed to go through with it.
At this point I think it right to ask, who are they to say what she does with her life?
This is a woman who is struggling both physically and emotionally. Because of her tumor, Maynard started having seizures on a regular basis, sustained memory loss, and her control over simple motor functions started to decline.
When you look at what she went through from the time of her original diagnosis, it hard to say she shouldn’t have gone through with her plan.
When someone has a pet, say a dog, and the dog has cancer or is old and having a hard time getting around, most people have their beloved pet put down and don’t force it to suffer.
When people say that they believe that Death with Dignity is wrong, but have their pets put down, what does that say?
We can’t bear to watch Mittens suffer, but we can let Aunt Millie slowly wither away.
In 2011, a documentary called How to Die in Oregon followed the lives of terminally ill people who were considering the going through with a Death with Dignity plan. Watching these people go through the struggle of their illness was heartbreaking.
What most people don’t realize is that the individuals who chose to go through with the procedure didn’t want to die.
If they had a choice, they would much rather have taken a magical cure that would have made them completely healthy.
But the reality is that eventually they would have gotten to the point where they would be in so much pain that they couldn’t walk or talk. They’d have lost control of their motor functions, and even their most basic bodily functions.
Taking the medication eliminates that humiliation, that pain and frustration that both the individual and their family would be forced to go through.
One argument against Death with Dignity is that the procedure can be abused when it comes to the elderly and mentally ill.
As of right now, Death with Dignity is ony for the use of people with terminal illnesses. It is not available when someone is having a bad day, or has a common cold. It is strictly for those with illnesses that cannot be treated or for whom treatment options are not a possibility.
Once the person has decided to go through with the process and decided on when they are going to take the medication, an official from Death with Dignity says, “You have the right to change your mind,” and then asks for the person to explain what the procedure is going to do. If they are unable explain, the medication is not administered.
I think that people need to try to imagine themselves in Maynard’s situation.
If it is something that goes against your own morals and beliefs, that’s fine. But your beliefs were not her beliefs, and she had all the right to go through with this choice, no matter how you feel about it.
I realize this practice is not black and white, and in fact is a whole lot of gray. It really teeters back and forth on the line of morality for a lot of people.
At the same time, this is a practice that is helping people, and allowing them to leave their friends and family while they are still coherent, still able to reminisce about their years together, and leave with pride and dignity.
