Brittany Maynard and the Ethics of Assisted Suicide
This paper examines the case of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old diagnosed with terminal glioblastoma who relocated to Oregon to legally end her life under the state's Death with Dignity Act. The paper explores the medical, legal, and ethical dimensions of physician-assisted suicide raised by her case, including the principle of "do no harm," the legal framework in Oregon, comparisons to the Terri Schiavo case, and the role of personal versus professional ethics. It also considers religious objections, the slippery-slope argument, and the broader impact on healthcare policy, concluding with a personal reflection on patient autonomy and the value of advance directives.
- Introduction: Frames death-with-dignity debate through Maynard's case
- Medical and Legal Dimensions of Assisted Suicide: Examines do-no-harm principle and Oregon law
- Ethical Considerations and Professional Standards: Explores personal vs. professional ethics in assisted dying
- Public Response and the Slippery Slope Debate: Reviews media reaction and slippery-slope concerns
- Impact on Healthcare and Personal Reflection: Considers healthcare impact and author's personal stance
- Conclusion: Argues for advance directives and patient autonomy
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its ethical argument in a concrete, well-known case, giving abstract concepts like "death with dignity" and "do no harm" immediate human context.
- It systematically separates medical, legal, and ethical dimensions before weaving them together, helping readers follow a multi-layered issue without losing the thread.
- The author's personal reflection is clearly marked and balanced against the broader analysis, demonstrating intellectual honesty about the limits of objectivity on a sensitive topic.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses case-based analysis effectively: it introduces a specific real-world scenario, extracts generalizable principles, and then tests those principles against counterarguments and comparable cases (notably Terri Schiavo). This technique is common in bioethics and health law writing, where abstract rules must be evaluated against lived experience.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a framing introduction, moves through a substantive analysis section that covers medical, legal, and ethical sub-topics in sequence, incorporates both public reaction and the author's personal viewpoint, and closes with a practical conclusion centered on advance directives. The structure is largely expository with argumentative moments, suitable for an undergraduate health ethics course.
Introduction
The case of Brittany Maynard is a fairly textbook one when it comes to discussions centering on doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia in general. There are indeed cases where the death of a patient is a certainty. However, the devil is in the details: some people believe they must suffer through their final days, while others — such as Brittany Maynard — feel they should have at least some control over their own destiny. These people feel that they should be able to die "with dignity" and on their own terms, rather than having to wait for death to come and for suffering to mount as that date approaches.
However, there are medical, legal, and ethical considerations that must be taken seriously when it comes to someone choosing suicide and involving one or more other people in the process. While "death with dignity" sounds legitimate to many, there are many layers to the issue when it comes to both the person wishing to die and the people involved in the process.
References
Bahan, I. (1997). Physician-assisted suicide: Above all else do no harm. Tennessee Medicine: Journal of the Tennessee Medical Association, 90(2), 45–46.
Campbell, C. S., & Black, M. A. (2014). Dignity, death, and dilemmas: A study of Washington hospices and physician-assisted death. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 47(1), 137–153. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.02.024
Caplan, A. (2014). Bioethicist: Brittany Maynard's death was an ethical choice. NBC News. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bioethicist-brittany-maynards-death-was-ethical-choice-n239966
Darr, K. (2007). Assistance in dying: Part II. Assisted suicide in the United States. Hospital Topics, 85(2), 31–36.
Huxtable, R. (2014). Splitting the difference? Principled compromise and assisted dying. Bioethics, 28(9), 472–480. doi:10.1111/bioe.12041
Printz, C. (2015). Death with dignity: Young patient with brain tumor puts a face on the right-to-die movement. Cancer, 121(5), 641–643. doi:10.1002/cncr.29283
Scott, A. (2014). Should terminally ill patients have a right to die? U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved June 10, 2016, from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/11/04/should-brittany-maynard-have-had-the-right-to-doctor-assisted-suicide
West, R. (2016). Hobby Lobby, birth control, and our ongoing cultural wars: Pleasure and desire in the crossfires. Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine, 26, 67–107.
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