Helena MaMs. PankratzAP Language Period 2B5 March 2015Legalizing Death with DignityAfter months of debilitating headaches, Brittany Maynard learned she had brain cancer (Maynard). He was 29 years old. She had just gotten married. And I'm just trying to have a family. Her life turned into a saga of hospital stays in which she underwent several surgeries to stop the tumor from growing. They were unsuccessful and her doctors gave her a prognosis of six months to live. Doctors gave her the option of undergoing full brain radiation therapy. It wouldn't necessarily save her life, but maybe it would prolong the time. However, her quality of life would be significantly compromised and she would suffer side effects, including hair loss and a burned scalp. Since the rest of her body was young and healthy, she would probably have to physically hold out for a while while the cancer ate her brain. So instead, he chose death with dignity. She uprooted her life and moved from California to Oregon, one of three states that legalize dying with dignity. Death with dignity is a term to describe the process in which terminally ill patients who are facing imminent death choose to shorten the dying process and seek medications that would give them a peaceful and dignified death (Ubel). These patients do not want to die but find the dying process too painful and unbearable. Many of these terminally ill patients do not ingest the drug even after getting it. However, they find great comfort in this option. Those who take the drugs are able to die in a manner consistent with their beliefs and are able to exercise autonomy consistent with how they have lived their entire lives. Death with dignity should be legalized… midway through the paper… or until the final stage. Furthermore, since lethal drug must always be requested and not encouraged by a doctor, requesting death with dignity gives patients a feeling of autonomy and power since they have some control over their last parts of life in a period when usually they feel helpless. With adequate legislation and professional training for professionals, death with dignity could be properly regulated and not be abused. Death With Dignity Acts in states that have already legalized it have succeeded in giving terminally ill patients the rights and choices they deserve, while having specific and rigorous guidelines. The rest of the country should take these states as models to follow because the fact remains that legalizing death with dignity nationwide would benefit many people suffering from a terminal illness..