Married for just over a year, Brittany Maynard was hoping to begin a family and experience the next chapter of her life with the one she loved. But at the age of 29 she received news that would halt her plans indefinitely. On New Years Day Maynard was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Maynard soon after moved to a state that allows her to decide when she wanted to end her life under the Death with Dignity laws.  The laws allow for a terminally-ill person to receive medical aid in death.   According the the laws a person deemed mentally stable and with no chance at survival may choose to die more quickly and less painfully.

Currently, the only states that have enacted Death with Dignity laws are Oregon, Washington and Vermont.

Clinical professor at the IU Southeast School of Nursing Kathleen Walsh said that the issue of medical aid in dying is complex and raises many viewpoints.

“Whether it is a good decision, I can’t answer that. Only Brittany had the right to decide if it was good or bad. Patients have the right to autonomy, but it must be a legally defensible decision,” Walsh said.

Walsh said she doesn’t see the Death with Dignity Act ever happening in Indiana.

“Public support for or against such legislation is deeply rooted in spiritual and religious beliefs, cultural norms and practices, and the likelihood and willingness of leaders to speak for or against such a controversial change in law,” she said.

We asked IU Southeast students what they think on the issue: