Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with a grade two astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer in January of 2014. By April 2014, it had developed into grade four astrocytoma. It didn’t take long before the effects of her medication and illness began to take a huge toll on her physically and mentally. In November 2014, she decided to be euthanized and passed away peacefully. I believe that what Maynard did was justifiable. Euthanasia, assisted suicide, should be legal across the U.S. so that terminally ill patients can pass away on their own terms. 

Terminally ill patients suffer at the hands of their illness every single day and feel the effects of their sickness. From the moment they wake up, they feel the agonizing pain of their illness, and they should have the right to end their pain if they wish to. The late Stephen Hawking made an excellent point when he questioned, “We don’t let animals suffer, so why humans?” When pets suffer an illness, the owners are given the choice to end the suffering of their pets by euthanizing them. However, there are little steps to make this happen for humans who suffer.

Furthermore, euthanasia should be legal because it provides a sense of relief to the patients just knowing that their illness will not be the one to take them to their death. “Control over the time and manner of death was a central theme in requests for euthanasia in a Dutch hospital,” National Center for Biotechnology Information revealed. This shows how patients care about dying on their own terms. 

America is all about freedom and rights that people have. However, there are no rights for people who experience the unbearable pain of their sickness. America should take this topic very seriously because it affects the livelihoods of many.