Over the past several weeks, many people have been discussing Brittany Maynard’s plan to kill herself on November 1st using a drug she obtained through Oregon’s so-called “Death with Dignity” Act. She was diagnosed at the beginning of this year with glioblastoma, the same malignant brain cancer which took the life of Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2012.
“Death is just another path, one that we all must take,” the wizard Gandalf says in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Return of the King. He is right – sooner or later, everyone faces death – but the path leading there can look very different depending on one’s circumstances at the end of life. Modern medical advances can now often prolong old age through illness and enfeeblement, but at what point should human mortality be embraced, facing death with dignity? In 2012, the Georgia General Assembly passed a...
Note: This is the last article in a series of four Wanted Dead or Alive articles on the issue of Organ Donation. Part 1 - An Overview; Part 2 - Essential Medical Terminology, Part 3 - Dead Enough to Donate. It's heart wrenching enough dealing with a loved one nearing the end of their life. The pain can be much worse when the issue of organ donation is involved. Such situations raise a host of questions that need to be addressed. When is it ethically appropriate to authorize organ removal? Is...
Every 10 minutes, a person’s name is added to the organ transplant waiting list. Every day, approximately 80 people receive a new organ. Every day, almost 20 individuals die because they did not receive one. At the writing of this article, there were more than 120,000 patients on the waiting list to receive a transplant. Demand continues to exceed the supply of life-saving organs. Because of the growing shortage of available organs, many in the transplant business are calling for loosened—and...
Dealing with end of life situations and the issue of organ donation are emotionally and spiritually challenging. How are these cases to be evaluated? What’s best for the individual? Should there ever be a time to consider harvesting a person’s organs? Imagine sitting by a loved one’s bedside, faced with the tremendous weight and responsibility of trying to answer those questions!
For centuries there was little debate about when a person had actually passed away. Not so today. Advances in modern medicine are truly marvelous—saving the lives of people who would have faced certain death just a few decades ago. At the same time, however, those advances have created confusion about when a life actually ends and how to treat the dying. This is especially true when it comes to declaring someone “brain dead” or in a “persistent vegetative state.” Should such persons be kept on...
Most people think advance health care directives and living wills are understandable, ironclad and followed to the letter. Many believe the purpose is simply to help health care providers carry out a patient’s wishes of how they want to be treated if they become unable to speak for themselves. In reality, such documents are often confusing, unclear, or outright ignored. Sadly, they can provide a vehicle that neatly fits in with the growing culture of death, which increasingly believes that...
Assisted suicide and euthanasia is a confusing subject. However, this subject will greatly affect future generations as we continue the slide down the slippery slope. Please carefully consider all factors before making a judgment. The following are a list of questions that many have asked on this subject and answers that address these provocative questions. 1. ISN'T A DECISION TO KILL ONESELF A PRIVATE CHOICE ABOUT WHICH SOCIETY HAS NO RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED? This position assumes that suicide...