Brittany Maynard

     

Brittany Maynard

Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old, teacher, wife, and daughter that was terminally ill with cancer, chose to end her life in Portland, Oregon by utilizing the Death with Dignity Act last Saturday night. Patients that choose to utilize the Death with Dignity Act take a fatal dose of barbiturates, prescribed by their doctor, when their suffering becomes too great to bear. As a hospice volunteer and a Catholic I have heard a spectrum of arguments and opinions in which individuals try to place the Death with Dignity Act somewhere on a moral spectrum.

To me however, Brittany Maynard is a hero because of the courage she displayed while showing the world the true challenges within the death and dying process. As a hospice volunteer, I have had the experience of seeing some of the most dignified deaths. However, I have also had the challenging experience of seeing individuals pass with no friends or family members and in debilitating pain. I believe Brittany's story speaks to those dying in loneliness. Brittany hoped to bring awareness to something most of us choose to ignore each day--death.

In a perfect world, I choose to believe that patients would not choose to remedy the death and dying process with the Death with Dignity Act because they would be treated with the upmost compassion by our society, they would be dignified with a supportive hospice or palliative care rather than barbiturates, and they would be held in love by all those that surround them. However, I also recognize that the rates of individuals dying in hospitals rather than in the support of hospice care is increasing, I have seen first hand with my Papa's death and my research as an undergraduate that the restricted funding for hospice has caused hospice care workers to devote less time to patients and their families, and that the fear of death is being promoted by our societal misunderstandings of death being a scary, horrible event.

For those that have grown disgruntled with Brittany Maynard's choice, I understand the uncomfortableness that accompanies someone willing to take their own life in what many deem an "unnatural way". However, I encourage you to consider the ways in which your actions promote individuals in that situation to lack choices. Does death as a concept make you uncomfortable? Do you promote compassion and love to those living on the margins of society? Would you be willing to accompany a stranger, a friend, or a family member on the challenging and unforgiving road of death and dying. These are all questions that accompany a dignified death that excludes the use of the Death with Dignity Act. Too many people are dying in group foster homes, with no access to friends or family members, too many people are dying too early because of systemic issues that are awaiting our effort in changing.

I challenge you to consider what death looks like for Americans in 2014. Is it something you are satisfied with? I for one am not and am dedicated to changing the ways that our society views death, accompanies the dying, and creates policies that promote compassion for patients and their families. So for this reason, moral arguments aside, Brittany Maynard is a hero. She took an issue that tends to fall into a category of black or white and asked us to see the grey in-between. The Brittany Maynard Fund has fittingly been set up to support Compassion and Choices. As an advocate for compassion and with the hope that the lives of those that are in the death and dying process can be dramatically improved, I encourage you to read through her website with an open eye and heart.