Last Saturday, Brittany Maynard ended her life at the age of 29. She did so six months after being diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive malignant brain tumor. Brittany had decided her death date ahead of time, appointing November 1 as the day that she would end her life. In June, Brittany moved to Oregon with her husband and other family members so that she could take advantage of the state's Death with Dignity Act. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE last month, Brittany declared,
Brittany died on November 1 by taking a fatal dose of barbiturates as prescribed by her physician. Her farewell message was posted on Facebook:
Before explaining why, let me express my own sympathy for Brittany and her family. In October of 2005 I conducted a funeral for a 14-year-old boy in our congregation who died of a malignant brain tumor. I walked with him and his family through that valley of suffering and heartache. I can assure you it made a profound impression on me. My heart is truly saddened over this terrible crisis Brittany and her family has had to endure over these last six months.
Still, I am concerned that many Christians have showed their support for Brittany's act of suicide. That's what it was, despite Brittany's claim to the contrary: "For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me," she told PEOPLE. "They try to mix it up with suicide and that's really unfair, because there's not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying." Yes, we all are. Some are simply dying more quickly than others. Suicide is, by definition, the act of intentionally killing oneself, and that is precisely what Brittany did, with the help of her physician.
Arguments for the right-to-die movement are usually based on cases of terminal illness in which the pain is presumably intolerable and beyond the range of medical relief. But several medical options exist for adequate pain control (e.g. analgesics, nerve-blocking) without too much sedation or other undesirable side effects.
But the bigger issue is what Scripture itself teaches about the sanctity of life and the sovereign purpose of God. On these matters John Jefferson Davis provides some very helpful insights in his book Evangelical Ethics. The following quote is lengthy but speaks to an even broader context than Brittany Maynard's situation and is well worth taking the time to read carefully and reflectively:
My glioblastoma is going to kill me and that's out of my control. I've discussed with many experts how I would die from it, and it's a terrible, terrible, way to die. So being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.
Brittany died on November 1 by taking a fatal dose of barbiturates as prescribed by her physician. Her farewell message was posted on Facebook:
Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me ... but would have taken so much more. The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type ... Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!Several Christian friends of mine on social media affirmed, and even applauded, Brittany's decision to end her life. This troubled me, and I think for good reason.
Before explaining why, let me express my own sympathy for Brittany and her family. In October of 2005 I conducted a funeral for a 14-year-old boy in our congregation who died of a malignant brain tumor. I walked with him and his family through that valley of suffering and heartache. I can assure you it made a profound impression on me. My heart is truly saddened over this terrible crisis Brittany and her family has had to endure over these last six months.
Still, I am concerned that many Christians have showed their support for Brittany's act of suicide. That's what it was, despite Brittany's claim to the contrary: "For people to argue against this choice for sick people really seems evil to me," she told PEOPLE. "They try to mix it up with suicide and that's really unfair, because there's not a single part of me that wants to die. But I am dying." Yes, we all are. Some are simply dying more quickly than others. Suicide is, by definition, the act of intentionally killing oneself, and that is precisely what Brittany did, with the help of her physician.
Arguments for the right-to-die movement are usually based on cases of terminal illness in which the pain is presumably intolerable and beyond the range of medical relief. But several medical options exist for adequate pain control (e.g. analgesics, nerve-blocking) without too much sedation or other undesirable side effects.
But the bigger issue is what Scripture itself teaches about the sanctity of life and the sovereign purpose of God. On these matters John Jefferson Davis provides some very helpful insights in his book Evangelical Ethics. The following quote is lengthy but speaks to an even broader context than Brittany Maynard's situation and is well worth taking the time to read carefully and reflectively:
From the perspective of the Judeo-Christian tradition, euthanasia violates the commandment "You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13, NIV). The taking of human life--for whatever motives--is strictly forbidden in Scripture, except in those very narrowly defined circumstances such as justifiable war, self-defense, and capital punishment. Societies that have gone beyond these narrow exceptions have opened the door to unintended but tragic levels of bloodshed and violence.
Human life is sacred because God made man in his own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26-27). This canopy of sacredness extends throughout man's life, and is not simply limited to those times and circumstances when man happens to be strong, independent, healthy, and fully conscious of his relationships to others. God is actively at work in the womb, for example (Ps. 139:13-16; Job 10:8-13), long before the human being can exercise the mental functions that secular humanists tend to see as the key criteria of value for human personality. The same God who lovingly is present in the womb can be present in the dying and comatose patient, for whom conscious human relationships are broken. The body of the dying can still be a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and hence sacred to God.
The euthanasia mentality sees man as the lord of his own life; the Christian sees human life as a gift from God, to be held in trusteeship throughout man's life on earth. "You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Cor. 6:19b-20). Determining the moment of death is God's prerogative, not man's (Job 14:5). Man does not choose his own death, but acquiesces in the will of the heavenly Father, knowing that for the believer, death is both the last enemy and the doorway to eternal life. Because man bears the image of God, his life is sacred in every state of its existence, in sickness or in health, in the womb, in infancy, in adolescence, in maturity, in old age, or even in the process of dying itself. Among a society all too often characterized by the choosing of death and violence, Christians are to be shining lights to a world of darkness, who choose life for themselves and for others--offering to the dying patient not deadly poisons, but rather neighbor love and the hope of life eternal.Earlier in this article I mentioned a 14-year-old boy in my church who died of a malignant brain tumor. On the front of the funeral program was his picture and these words from 2 Timothy 4:7:
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith.
That's dying with dignity.