Should terminally ill patients have the right to die? The right-to-die movement entered the United States in 1980, when a man helped his dying wife end her life. This man later founded the Hemlock Society, an organization that would help terminally ill patients die peacefully, and advocated for laws supporting physician-assisted suicide. After this event, the movement took the lead, finding itself taken to court several times. The debates continued as more and more doctors were accused of murder while fulfilling the wish of their suffering patients to die by the method of euthanasia, a painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable or painful disease. States began to propose legislation that would allow these terminally ill patients to choose to die — and although many states initially rejected it, the issue never left the court. In 1994, the state of Oregon passed the “Death with Dignity Act” allowing “terminally ill adults who are likely to die within six months to obtain a prescription for a lethal drug from a physician” – serving as a cornerstone in the movement to the right to die. In 2008, Washington became the second state to allow physician-assisted suicide, and the following year the Montana Supreme Court ruled that "doctors [could] not be prosecuted for helping to hasten the deaths of terminally ill patients" ( "1980"). Despite the support this right-to-die movement gained, there was opposition as states such as California, Michigan, and Maine rejected it. The nation's divided opinions then lead to the controversial question: Should terminally ill patients have the right to choose to die? However, religion aside, the answer tends to be “yes.” Terminally ill people should have the right…half of paper…to die with dignity too” (Lee, “Life, Liberty, and the Right to Die”). Terminally ill people's right to die is not only found in the context of our Declaration of Independence, but it represents a better economic option for both patients and doctors and, most importantly, allows patients to die with dignity. Patients suffering from an illness that has no hope of cure or recovery should be able to consciously choose whether or not they want to continue treatment or end their suffering early. Regardless of why the patient chooses to die, the truth is that every human being has the right to live their life as they want and to make their own decision. They have the right to have the freedom to pursue their own happiness, and if that happiness is to die, that right and that choice should be respected and supported..