Can there be dignity in death?

What would you do if you knew the exact date you were going to die?

29 year old Brittany Maynard knows that her life will end on November 1, 2014. She knows this because her death is her choice.

The California native was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in January of this year.  Glioblastoma multiforme is an exceptionally aggressive form of brain cancer that grows and spreads very quickly, with most victims not living past three years. Mrs. Maynard was pronounced as having stage 4 of the disease and her prognosis was less than one year. It was at this point that Mrs. Maynard and her family moved to Oregon so she could be in one of the five states that have legislation that allows assisted suicide. Mrs. Maynard met the criteria set forth in the legislation and was given a medication that will allow her to die peacefully and without pain once it’s ingested.

It’s a process that is currently illegal in all provinces and territories in Canada.

Over a decade ago, my grandfather was confined to a hospital bed after being diagnosed with bone cancer. A mountain of a man that I looked up to my entire life, I recall seeing him cry after a month of confinement and asking why someone wouldn’t just help him die on his own terms. I watched him wither away over the next fifty four days, and I don’t know what caused more suffering for him; the pain of his disease or the fact that his friends and loved ones saw him helpless and in his weakest moments.

I did some research at the time of my grandfather’s illness and found out that if anyone had assisted him with his wish to die, that individual could have faced imprisonment for up to fourteen years.  Instead of being able to do something to ease his pain, I had to sit and watch while the closest human being I knew to Superman got more and more depressed as his body started to fail on him. He said that if we put a dog or cat through the ordeal he faced we’d be locked away for animal cruelty. It breaks my heart to know that he was completely correct.

Why would we – as a supposedly advanced society – allow for people to suffer through terminal illnesses when their wishes to be euthanized are crystal clear? An even better question is why euthanasia is still illegal in Canada when a poll released earlier this month shows that an overwhelming majority of Canadians (84 per cent) are in favor of assisted suicide.  It’s illegal because there are still some people who think they have the right to make decisions that affect us from the cradle to the grave – whether we like it or not.

Citing reasons including (but not limited to) morality, religious conviction, and the Hippocratic Oath that states a doctor should do no harm to a patient, there are many entities that stand firm on the belief that assisted suicide should never be made available in Canada. Shockingly – at least to me – is the fact that the Council of Canadians with Disabilities is a staunch opponent of the move to legalize assisted suicide.  Considering that many people who wish to partake in assisted suicide are those whose disabilities adversely affect their quality of life, I would expect the CCD to be in full support… but what do I know?

There may be hope for the future, however.

 In 2012, a lady named Gloria Taylor became the first Canadian to ever be legally granted the right to die in this country.  A British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that Mrs. Taylor – who was incapacitated by ALS – would be denied her fundamental constitutional rights if she were not allowed to seek assistance in carrying out her death, since she was physically unable to do so herself.  The B.C. Supreme Court has since demanded that the Federal Government re-examine the laws regarding assisted suicide because they assert that they are a clear violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I think they’re right.

The forthcoming decision on the rights of Canadians to have access to assisted suicide will be one of the biggest in our country’s history.  I have seen too many friends and loved ones suffer through their final days instead of passing on peacefully; able to share final lucid and loving moments with those they care about.  The paradigm needs to shift.

I would have given anything to watch one more baseball game and share a beer with my Granddad at home in his final days instead of watching him wither away in a hospital bed. We all face death. Let’s hope Canada allows us the choice to die with dignity sooner than later.