Euthanasia And The Right to Die

Brittany Maynard, 29 years old, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2014. After learning of her new terminally ill status and the fact that there were no available treatments for her, Maynard and her family decided to move from California to Oregon, as Oregon is one of the only states to have passed the “Death with Dignity Act”. The Death with Dignity Act allows patients to voluntarily end their lives with the self-administration of lethal medications, rather than to continue their prolonged suffering. However, controversy soon erupted over the ethical reasoning of having ‘the right to die.’ The public discussion was focused on Americans who were becoming unhappy with the medical protocols that diminished patient dignity and quality of life.