Pat Robertson, who says he can heal brain tumors, tells Brittany Maynard to get a faith healing http://t.co/FAYQPsP8R9
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) October 29, 2014
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Archbishop of Portland says the young woman who made national news after moving to Portland to legally take her own life should not try to control her own death; every moment is precious, even amid suffering. Brittany Maynard, 29, insisted during an interview with People Magazine that she’s not the least bit suicidal. But after getting diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, Maynard moved to Portland so she can die by lethal medication prescribed under the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. She made the decision after learning about the horrible stages of death by glioblastoma and said being able to choose to go with dignity would be “less terrifying.”
None of us can begin to know or understand what Brittany Maynard is going through…along with those who love her. How can we begin to comprehend the pain and suffering she’s enduring…and how can we possibly hope to understand her dilemma? She’s facing a future in which glioblastoma will slowly, painfully, and horribly kill her. None of us can begin to understand her circumstances, and no one has the right to judge her harshly for deciding to end her life on her terms.
We should be wishing her the best in the hopes that her last few days or weeks will be as comfortable as possible. That she’s chosen to take control over when her life ends is something that shouldn’t even be open for debate. It’s her life. She’s evaluated her circumstances and made a decision she feels is best for her and her loved ones. That should be the end of the story, because here in Oregon, people with a terminal illness have the legal right to end their life at a time and in a manner of their choosing. NO ONE else has a right to interject their opinion as to her decision. They should respect Ms. Maynard’s decision…or they should STFU. She moved to Oregon because she wanted to have control over how her life ended. Those who feel that God’s the only one worthy of making that decision aren’t the ones suffering from glioblastoma.
Those who oppose Death With Dignity are free to their views in a global sense. When it comes to an individual’s decision, NO ONE has the right to judge that person harshly. Ms. Maynard’s case is not an abstract theological and moral concept. It’s a young woman with a terminal disease doing what she thinks is right for her- something she has the legal right to do here in Oregon. The pontificating and moralizing are wholly inappropriate when the circumstances of an individual are the subject of discussion.
That said, there are those self-righteous religious Conservatives who feel moved to offer their opinion that what Ms. Maynard is doing is sinful and wrong. While I respect the right of the Archbishop of Portland to have an opinion, he has no right- zero, zip, none, nada- to weigh in on Ms. Maynard’s decision**. It’s easy to be theoretical and self-righteous when you’re not the one facing a lingering, painful, and imminent death.
“Death can be a frightening prospect. Coupled with suffering, it can be even more frightening,” he said. “Assisted suicide offers the illusion that we can control death by putting it on our own terms. It suggests that there is freedom in being able to choose death, but it fails to recognize the contradiction. Killing oneself eliminates the freedom enjoyed in earthly life.”
Sample added that every moment of life is precious, and every moment of life worth living.
“Assisted suicide sows confusion about the purpose of life and death. It suggests that a life can lose its purpose and that death has no meaning,” he said, explaining further that he believes it is often during the most difficult times that people come to understand what is most important about life.
This is not a time for the Archbishop (or anyone else) to be pontificating on Ms. Maynard’s decision as if it was some sort of abstract concept. Her life is not a theological debating point. Those who aren’t her have two choices:
Be supportive of her as she makes what has to be a heart-wrenching decision to end her life, or
STFU.
I see no reason to sugarcoat my reaction, because so many have seen fit to hold forth in the belief that what Ms. Maynard has decided is best for her is somehow “wrong” or “sinful.” This is a time when no one has the right to be anything but understanding, supportive, and sympathetic. We’re talking about a woman carrying a death sentence, one that will claim her life whether she hastens the process or not. That she’s decided to take control of the process is something anyone possessing even the barest shred of humanity should embrace fully and completely. You might not make the same decision if you were in similar circumstances…but you’re not. You have no right to broadcast your opposition to her decision to take control of her death. All that accomplishes is to make you appear to be callous, inhuman, and insensitive about the plight of a woman dying of cancer.
The future Ms. Maynard faces is equal parts tragic and horrific. We should be fully supporting her and her husband as they deal with something no one should ever have to confront. That some folks feel perfectly justified in voicing their opposition is as insensitive as it is in human.
I’m by no means saying that an individual doesn’t have a right to oppose Death With Dignity as a concept. When you feel justified in commenting on an individual’s decision, a line’s been crossed. No one who isn’t dealing with Ms. Maynard’s dilemma has any right to interject their opinion as to the error or sinfulness of her decision to take control of her death. Brittany Maynard isn’t an abstract concept, a theological debating point to be discussed as if it has no practical real world application. She’s a human being about to lose her life to a terrible disease; what’s she’s done is decide that she wants to control the timing and manner of her death. How anyone not in her shoes can feel they have the right to tell that what she’s doing is wrong defies rational understanding
If you can’t support her decision, than at least have the decency to STFU.
Sometimes people really suck, knowhutimean?
