Death With Dignity Argument Essay

Death with Dignity On November 1st 2014, Brittany Maynard chose to take her life on her own terms. She was diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma multiform, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was just 29 years old. When she decided to take her life on her own terms, she also decided that she was going to become an advocate for physician assisted suicide. The opinions on this subject are divided, but who are we, as human beings, to deny the basic choice of another? When a person’s health has an expiration date already on it, she should be able to make the choice to die with dignity. First of all, there are “three states that provide the physician assisted suicide, they are Oregon, Washington and Vermont” (Introduction to Right to Die: At

“Adult residents of Oregon (18 years or older), who are terminally ill can make a request to a licensed physician in Oregon for lethal medication. The request must be made orally and must be made in writing, it needs to be signed and dated by the patient and the patient needs two witnesses. The oral request must be repeated no less than fifteen days after the initial request.” (Lewis p. 128, 129). Another state that allows physician assisted suicide is Washington. As with Oregon, Washington “residents must understand the treatment and the comforting care that is available for them.” (Introduction to The Right to Die: At Issue). Although the choice of assisted suicide has been available for some time, participation in the program hasn’t been staggering. In fact, doctors are writing more prescriptions for the lethal medication than there are people taking the medicine. In Washington there are “50,000 deaths a year and cancer is the second leading cause of death. The number who chose to participate in the Death with Dignity program is miniscule.” (Physician-Assisted Suicide Laws Are Actually Seldom Used, para 4). There have been “752 people that have used the