U.S. News and World Report is conducting a poll among its readers to determine if they believe people like the 29 year-old California native whose end-of-life decision gripped the nation for the last six weeks should have the right to end their own life. Surprisingly, more than 70 percent of respondents gave a resounding "no" to this question.
Maynard, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2013, moved to Oregon from her home in California so that she could take advantage of the state's Death With Dignity Act to end her life and avoid suffering what she believed would be a very painful death.
Even though palliative care experts argued that she could be kept comfortable, Maynard decided she'd rather die on her own terms and joined forces with a right-to-die activist organization, Compassion and Choices, which hoped to use her story to revive the issue in America, particularly among young people.
"Maynard’s doctor-assisted death stands out from other cases partially because she does not resemble the typical doctor-assisted suicide patient in Oregon, whose median age is 71," writes Adriana Scott for US News.
She cites Arthur Caplan of New York University’s Division of Medical Ethics, who said right-die-activists are hoping Maynard's story will grab the attention of young people.
“Critics are worried about her partly because she’s speaking to that new audience, and they know that the younger generation of America has shifted attitudes about gay marriage and the use of marijuana, and maybe they are going to have the same impact in pushing physician-assisted suicide forward,” Caplan said. “That seems to be the reason that she is commanding so much attention. She may change the politics here.”
But her weeks-long campaign gave ample time to opponents who waged equally persuasive arguments against making such a choice.
One of the most gripping responses came from a terminally ill young seminarian named Philip Johnson who is also suffering from brain cancer. He wrote Brittany an open letter explaining that as terrifying as the prognosis may be, "it does not make me any less of a person."
"My life means something to me, to God, and to my family and friends, and barring a miraculous recovery, it will continue to mean something long after I am paralyzed in a hospice bed. My family and friends love me for who I am, not just for the personality traits that will slowly slip away if this tumor progresses and takes my life."
Others said Maynard's death on November 1 should not be viewed as a "political cause."
"It was a tragedy, hastened by despair and aided by the culture of death invading our country,” said Priests for Life Executive Director Janet Morano.
Many in the medical community also spoke up, such as palliative care expert Ira Byok, M.D. a professor of medicine at Dartmouth, who called attention to the dangers the right-to-die movement pose for people suffering from mental illness.
“When doctor-induced death becomes an accepted response to the suffering of dying people, logical extensions grease the slippery slope,” said Ira Byok, a professor of medicine at Dartmouth. “Last year in Holland, where voluntary euthanasia is permitted, over 40 percent people sought and received euthanasia for depression or other mental illness.”
Adriana ends her column by asking, "So what do you think? Should terminally ill patients have the right to die?" and directs readers to cast their vote in an on-line poll.
Click here to let your voice be heard!
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