End of life can happen with dignity

Brittany Maynard, 29, who had a malignant brain tumor, moved to Oregon, where a 'Death with Dignity Act” allowed her to ask a doctor for drugs to kill herself, which she did last weekend. (Of 1,173 people given prescriptions under the act, 752 used them to die.)

She told People magazine that this is 'NOT suicide. I want to live. I wish there were a cure for my disease but there's not.” She said her tumor is 'a terrible, terrible way to die. Being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.”

Columnist Richard Cohen described her decision as 'courageous.” I disagree.

Consider the case of another young woman with an incurable brain tumor, Lauren Hill, 18, whose dream was to play college basketball. When she learned she had an inoperable tumor, she asked her doctor, 'Can I at least still play basketball?”

Though she has weeks to live, Lauren gets up at 5:30 a.m. for practice. Even though she can't even do most drills, she still tries.

Both Lauren and Brittany suffered from an incurable brain tumor. Which woman faced her crisis with inspirational courage?

The American Medical Association argues that 'allowing physicians to participate in assisted suicide would cause more harm than good. Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose societal risks.”

The AMA says that 'Instead of participating in assisted suicide, physicians must aggressively respond to the needs of patients at the end of life. Patients should not be abandoned once it is determined that cure is impossible.”

However, a Consumer Reports survey of 2,015 adults found that 86 percent want to spend their final days at home, half would prefer pain management and comfort care - but 61 percent have never heard of palliative care and more than half of those over 65 have not completed an advance directive, or living will.

' Mike McManus is president of Marriage Savers. Comments: mike@marriagesavers.org