The right
to die has long been a controversial issue. Oregon is one of five states in
America that have a Death with Dignity Act. Oregon was the first of these
states to pass this Act, seventeen years ago. It's history shows that these
laws are safe and work as designed. There has never been any concerns raised by
Death with Dignity opponents about coercion or abuse. The Death with Dignity
Act has been documented by the state health department, investigated by medical
researchers and scrutinised by news media.
Death
with Dignity laws are voluntary. Any eligible person can request the
life-ending medication from a doctor but no doctor is obligated to provide it.
Death with Dignity is an option that reduces suffering at the end of life and
the ability to die in comfort and control, with dignity. It is a constitutionally protected right in state and federal courts and recent national polling puts
public support for aid in dying at 70%.
Compassion
and Choices are the oldest and largest organization working to improve care and
choice at the end of life. They advocate for Death with Dignity laws in states
across the country so that every American has the choice to die in peace and
end their suffering on their own terms. They want Death with Dignity to be an
open, accessible medical practice across the country.
Brittany
Lauren Maynard was born in 1984 and lived 29 years of generosity, compassion,
education, travel and humour. She met her husband Daniel Diaz in April 2007 and
the two wed in September 2012. On New Year's Day, this past year, Brittany was
diagnosed with brain cancer. It was a terminal diagnosis for which there were
no save-able measures. She was given six months to live.
In the
face of terminal illness, Brittany decided to live each day to the fullest. She
travelled, and kept as physically busy as possible.
"Do
what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt.
Brittany
graduated from UC Berkeley as an undergrad and received her Masters in
Education from UC Irvine. She was an accomplished traveller who spent many
months alone teaching in orphanages in Kathmandu, Nepal. That experience
changed her life and perspective. She fell in love with her time in Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Thailand. She spent a summer working in Costa
Rica and Tanzania. A month before her wedding she and a friend climbed to the
top of Mount Kilimanjaro. She took ice climbing courses on Cayambe and Cotopaxi
in Ecuador. She loved scuba diving and relished her time in the Galapagos,
Zanzibar and Caymans.
Brittany
chose to Die with Dignity in the face of her illness. She moved from her home
state of California to Oregon where she passed away in a little yellow house in
Portland. Brittany chose to speak out and advocate for the right to die.
"The
freedom is in the choice...If the option of Death with Dignity is unappealing
to anyone for any reason, they can simply choose not to avail themselves of it.
Those very real protections are already in place."
She is
survived by her husband Daniel Diaz, her mother Deborah Ziegler, step-father
Gary Holmes and by Daniel's family. She loved deeply and left the world with zero
regrets on how she spent her 29 years.
"It
is people who pause to appreciate life and give thanks who are happiest. If we
change our thoughts, we change our world! Love and peace to you all."
No comments:
Post a Comment