Samantha Kupferman, a writer for the Washington Post, tells the story of her mother’s battle with a rare degenerative disease called primary progressive aphasia. This illness caused her mother to not be able to swallow, which stopped her from eating normally. Kupferman explains how her mother did not want to use a feeding tube which was eventually going to lead to her death. She tells her personal story to give an example of why personal choice matters in health care. Her mother made her own decision to not use the feeding tube and this allowed her to be happy for the last moments of her life.
Kupferman’s purpose is to use her story to explain to others the importance of ill individuals being able to make their own choices about their medical care. She uses an appeal to pathos to help convey her positive opinion on Maryland’s End-of-Life Option Act. By telling the personal and emotional story of her mother’s sickness, it is easy for readers to relate to her journey. She says, “That was when we knew it was time to take my mother home from the hospital and bring in hospice care. As we drove home, she was the happiest she had been in weeks, because all she wanted was to be in her own home, surrounded by our family.” The struggle of losing a loved one to sickness and this story shared by Kupferman helps persuade readers to agree with her and support this End-of-Life Option Act.
I agree with Kupferman’s argument supporting Maryland’s End-of-Life Option Act. I believe that terminally ill individuals should have the opportunity to make their own decisions on how they want to be treated and medicated. I believe that this would give the sick people freedom to choose how they want to live out the ends of their lives as they wish. This is important because, even though families of sick loved ones want to help, the person who is ill should have the final say on how they want to be treated medically.
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