There are times to be happy and times to be sad. There are times to celebrate and, well, times to celebrate different things. That’s the choice that Brittany is making toward an end in less than 3 weeks. Brittany has stage 4 brain cancer, horribly aggressive, and told she has about 3 weeks to live.
Brittany, instead of living through what doctors have told her about her illness’s end, has decided to move to Oregon and take part in the “die with dignity” option the state allows for those like her. She has 2 prescribed pills, lethal to humans, and has set the time/date for her to take them and pass much more quietly into death. Below is her video with already over 3.5 million hits:
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I watched this particular video and it helped me figure out a lot of things. Most of all, it sincerely helped me to finalize my thoughts that it should be okay for a person to decide, under certain circumstances, they are done and wish to die. How can it be right for a person who is going to absolutely suffer for weeks, months, or years to have to endure it because it is illegal to attempt suicide and, if you succeed, your family will, most likely, lose all life insurance benefits?
I am not for the willy-nilly (how often do you get to see that in print!?) taking of your life because of very temporary issues. We are talking about the “I am going to die in a few weeks/months without a miracle” thing. But wait! you say – don’t you believe in God-given miracles? Yes, I do. I believe in them very much. But, I also agree free will plays a big part and I don’t believe God looks down on you for choosing to take this way out. And, what I really believe is no one has the right to force their religious beliefs on someone and make them continue to live if they have chosen not to. I had better slow down; I am getting upset.
I created this post because the video affected me a lot. This particular problem is not being dealt with very well, in my opinion. Five states say it is okay for death with dignity. I don’t fully understand. It is that hard to allow someone who is very sick to make a choice? They will allow me to choose to treat myself for years; they will allow me to stop all medication and die miserably; but they won’t allow me to partake in a method of dying which bypasses all that pain and suffering; keeps my family out of the pain, suffering, and legal messes; and allows for timed closure.
Could I do it? I don’t know. What I know is that I should have the choice.
Namaste,
Scott
