Death with Dignity TANIN IZADI

Brittany Maynard  Diagnosed on New Year’s Day  Terminal and aggressive brain cancer  6 months to live  Married to Dan Diaz for just over a year  Died at 29 on November 1, 2014

Uprooting  Moved to Portland, Oregon  One of only five states where death with dignity is authorized  The "death with dignity" movement advocates that terminally ill patients be allowed to receive medication that will let them die on their own terms  Picked a little yellow house to pass away in  Established residency  New home  New driver’s license  Voter registration  Husband took a leave of absence  Pets needed caregivers

Her Choice  Prescription filled for weeks  Gave her a sense of peace  Rather than fear, uncertainty, and pain  If she changed her mind then she would simply not take the prescription  Hoped this option is available to her fellow American citizens

The Choice  "I've had the medication for weeks. 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 wrote  One has the right to choose between life and death if they are medically in a state of misery  People should be understanding of one’s choice  Living a nightmare

Questions to Consider  Who has the right to tell one that they don't deserve the choice?  That one would deserve to suffer for weeks or months in tremendous amounts of physical and emotional pain?  How would one know the severity of another ones pain?  Why should anyone have the right to make that choice for another?

Works Cited  Ball, Howard. At liberty to die the battle for death with dignity in America. New York University Press, ProQuest Reader. Database. 18 Nov  Maynard, Brittany. “My right to death with dignity at 29.” CNN.com. Cable New Network, 2 Nov Web. 18 Nov  Salladay, Susan. “Death with Dignity?” Journal of Christian Nursing, Vol. 1. Database. 18 Nov