Do you believe that a person has the right to determine when they should end their life?
Do you believe that someone who is physically suffering should be able to end that suffering on their own terms?
I am indifferent when it comes to answering those questions. Of course I'm not talking about suicide. I don't think anyone should ever commit suicide. I personally, think there are other ways besides suicide to fix your problems. I am talking about if someone has a terminal illness or if someone has been diagnosed with cancer. If they think or know they are going to die, should they have the right to determine when that time is? Personally, I would say yes and no. I would never want someone I care about have to suffer in any way...emotionally and especially physically. It would be like I was feeling their pain as well. It would be awful to sit there and watch them cry and just be miserable. Yearning for anything to take their pain away, even if it's just for a few minutes. But what if you can't imagine your life without that person? What if it's your significant other that you have been married to for 20, 30 or 60 years? What if it's a parent that you can't just let go? Or a sibling that you haven't gone a day without talking to your whole lives?
At this point are you just being selfish? Is it selfish to want to spend as much time as possible with the one person you love most in this world. Is it selfish to make that person continue to suffer just so you can spend more time with them. So you can kiss them good morning and goodnight a few more times. So you can take a few more pictures that will last you a lifetime. So you can tell them how much you mean to them and "I love you" one more time. To look into their eyes like you have all those years before so you can remember eyelash and the exact color of their eyes just like the day you met. Is that being selfish?
It's hard to say you would agree with this until you were put in this situation. It's hard to say you'll do anything until you're forced to act upon those feelings. But I would respect someone's wishes if someone I cared about wanted to die with dignity. As much as it would hurt to let them go...I think I would respect that...or at least understand. Letting go is probably one of the hardest things to do. 
I would want to remember that person as who I've always known them to be. Who they were before they became sick. And I think that's one of the main reason's of "death with dignity." Individuals don't want to be remembered for their last days laying in a hospital bed...weak...in dire pain...maybe losing their hair...their memory or their sight. They want to be remembered as being full of life with that sparkle still in their eye.
Is that so much to ask?
I don't think it is, but then again I have never been in that situation before. But I can tell you this...I would want every single moment I could with that person. And I would cherish each moment like it was going to be my last. I wouldn't stop saying "I love you" and I would kiss then every chance I had. I would also cry everytime I knew they were in pain. I would hurt every time they hurt. And laugh every time they laughed. But most of all...I would want them to be comforable. I wouldn't want them to be in any pain. And with that..I would have to agree with "death with dignity."
-KC
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