By Adam Kelly | Echo
How does one die with dignity? What qualifies dying with dignity?
Recently, the topic of assisted suicide boomed across the Internet when a woman named Brittany Maynard decided to end her life a few days from now at age 29. She has inoperable brain cancer and was given six months to live.
Maynard and her family researched treatment options, concluding that nothing could save her life. Instead of enjoying the time she has left, Maynard has decided to not live as long as possible. Her plan is to take her life soon after her husband's birthday on Oct. 26
"Because the rest of my body is young and healthy, I am likely to physically hang on for a long time even though cancer is eating my mind,"Maynard said in an opinion piece for CNN.com. "I probably would have suffered in hospice care for weeks or even months. And my family would have had to watch that." Maynard underwent surgery soon after learning she had cancer and was in remission, but the cancer came back in April. No other treatment has been able to help.
Maynard wants to die on her own terms, in her own way, so she decided to uproot her husband and mother and move to Oregon where the death with dignity law allows her to end her life through medication.
Why go through all that trouble and not focus more on the time she has left?
Now, I am not going to on a rant about how Jesus can save her life and give her hope in her final days. Although it is true, I want to focus more on the quality and amount of time she could spend with her family and friends.
If I were Maynard, my focus wouldn't be dying on my own terms; it would be on dedicating every day left to being with family and friends, visiting relatives, because it may literally be my last. I wouldn't try to manipulate time, my body and others to get what I think I deserve.
Maynard believes she shouldn't suffer for many months. But why wouldn't she want to spend every last second possible with them, enduring the pain to make each day full of memories for her family, such as exploring unknown places or activities that are new?
She has chosen a date to take her life using the medication, surrounded by her mother, stepfather, husband and best friend.
What if she doesn't have the strength to do what she says when the day comes?
Maynard said she has peace knowing she has a safety net in her hands. Having the choice of time and day to die relieves her. How is having something that will take your last breath slowly from you a safety net? She is renouncing life, giving in no matter how hard it is on her or her family, by quitting early. Having to choose when I would die and if it would be the right time would worry me and give me more anxiety than relieve my anxiety. I would fear making that choice rather than it be a safety net.
Doctors' timelines have been wrong before. Brittany Maynard may have more than the six months she was predicted. She could live for years but is willing to end her life before it is ended naturally.
Death with dignity comes naturally, not forced by your own hand.
