J.R. LeMar

BRITTANY MAYNARD R.I.P.

brittany-maynard-3-768

Here’s the follow-up to a blog I wrote last month KILLING YOURSELF (FOR A GOOD REASON)

Brittany Maynard, the 29-year old woman who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and made national news with her public declaration of her intent to commit suicide on November 1st. She moved to Oregon, a state which has a law called Death with Dignity, which allows doctors to prescribe “life-ending medication” to certain terminally ill patients. She chose the date because it was one day after her husband’s birthday, and she wanted to celebrate one last birthday with him, and wanted to go before her suffering got too bad. According to articles I’ve read it does say that in the last few days she had suffered several painful seizures which would leave her partially paralyzed, so she had to make she did this while she still had the motor-functions to be able to do this herself. And on Saturday, she took her life, in bed surround by her husband and parents.

Like I said before, I fully support her decision and am glad she had the courage to do this. And, yes, COURAGEOUS, is exactly how I’d describe her. I know some may disagree, and feel that suicide is the “easy way out.” I know others have sincere religious beliefs that would prohibit this act. But I believe that this was her right to choose the best option for her. I believe that all people should have this right to die with dignity.

REST IN PEACE.

6 comments

  1. I am certainly ambivalent about this situation. That said, I really do believe that the majority of the time a person’s medical treatment should be decided between themselves and their doctor, with as little government interferance as possible. Obviously doctors need to be licensed to make sure they aren’t quacks or con artists, and drugs need to be evaluated to determine that they work properly and do not cause all sorts of horrid side effects.

    But I get extremely angry when some self-serving politician interferes in a person’s private medical decisions merely so they can establish their credentials with some influential Political Action Committee or religious organization that is opposed to euthenasia or abortion or stem cell research or whatever and will give out massive campaign contributions to anyone who will parrot their beliefs.

    Like

    Reply

    • I can understand your ambivalence. When I posted my first blog about this on Facebook I had a discussion with someone who also mostly agreed but was concerned about possible abuse of the situation. I not only support the right to suicide in a situation like this, but also assisted suicide and euthanasia. One reason Brittnay Maynard made the decision when she did is because the law in Oregon only gives her the right to do it herself, so she couldn’t risk waiting until she was too infirm to do it herself (as I pointed out, she had bouts of paralysis dude to her seizures, eventually that would be permanent), because the doctor or her family would not be able to do it for her if she couldn’t. But we don’t want to risk people getting suicide pills just because they’re depressed, or relatives ending someone’s life just because it’s inconvenient to take care of them. There has to be a lot of safeguard and oversight in place. Beginning with making sure the patient really is terminal and that the odds of survival are nil.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

What do YOU think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.