One may disagree on the topic of Death with Dignity Act, which is the act in which a person decides to take his or her own life before the natural time of the death. In Brittany Maynard’s case she sought to take control of this herself. The 29-year-old newlywed was diagnosed with stage four Glioblastoma Multiform, which is a form of brain cancer. In the final months of Maynard’s life, she decided to take control of the short time she had left to live. She put her feelings aside and decided to enjoy the littlie time she had left. Maynard decided that her husband and family would be by her side on Nov. 1 to end her life.
Due to the fact that she was choosing to end her life willingly; many argue that this is a prime example of suicide. Suicide is one of the biggest sins you can ever commit. According to the Bible, it is against God’s will and it says that those who commit suicide will be given internal damnation.
Perhaps if I were to put myself in her shoes and I was told my life expectancy was approximately only four months to live, I would better understand her reasoning. I could not even imagine how to react to my doctor telling me something like that. It’s very hard to imagine planning my own funeral and death. I believe that Maynard has the right to make her own decision about her life. This is an act of a moral choice and she is the one that has to live with this decision. It should not be left up to anyone to speak about her decision whether they believe it is moral or immoral.
Growing up as a Catholic, I was taught that that suicide is wrong and that it was said to be one of the worst sins committed against God. I’m not insinuating that it’s okay to commit suicide and go against my beliefs, but due to certain circumstances she made a choice that made her happy.
Maynard’s made the best decision for herself now while she could still make decisions for herself. I think just by reading this article and having very intimate details being shared with us, that more people should try to be much more open minded to the idea of Death with Dignity Act.
There are certain things about her story that you need to put into perspective. It’s not like Maynard chose this to happen to her, it was God’s choice and he has a greater journey for her to take. Students should take heed of this situation because this is a prime example of how one can be here today and gone tomorrow. For those individuals out there that can be ignorant to her decision, they should really try to put themselves in her shoes. Try to understand why and what she had to go through in order to make the decision she made.
