1
21 February
AOW Summary and Response #5: “Death with Dignity laws and the desire to control hows
one’s life ends”
Summary
In Liz Szabo’s Washington article, “Death with Dignity laws and the desire to control
hows one’s life ends,” claims Ill patients seeking aid in dying aren’t concerned about pain,
they’re more concerned about controlling the way they leave the world. Supporters have
successfully convinced five states that ill patients have the right to die without suffering
uncontrollable pain in their final days. In 2015 Governor Jerry Brown signed the California law
passing the “Right to Die.” Oregon being another state that has passed a Death with Dignity Act
which allows Physician assisted suicide if the patient is terminally ill. Brittany Maynard a 29
year old woman that suffered from a brain tumor was well known for her advocate in Oregon
about the Right to Die. The Death with Dignity Act empowers individuals to control the timing
of their death. The author points out 3 claims in Death with Dignity; Seeking Control on the
terminally ill patients, looking in the future with different statistics, and what the patients
experience during the different kinds of suffering.
2
Opinion
For a long periodically time this topic is heavily debated and there are proponents on both
sides who stron...