[More in the cross-post on the MRC's NewsBusters blog.]
Don Lemon surprisingly brought on a Catholic seminarian on the 29 October 2014 edition of CNN Tonight for his take on cancer patient turned euthanasia advocate Brittany Maynard's controversial plan to kill herself. Philip Johnson, who, like Maynard, is afflicted by a terminal brain tumor, recently published an open letter to his fellow cancer patient – calling on her to cancel her suicide plans and "fight this disease," so that she can be an "inspiration to countless others in her situation."
DON LEMON: ...I want to go to Philip now. Philip, you were diagnosed – you know, with incurable brain cancer back in 2008 at the age of just 24 years old....So, how long were you given to live?
PHILIP JOHNSON, HAS TERMINAL BRAIN CANCER: I was told that the median survival time for my tumor was about 18 months – maybe two years, if I'm lucky. They told me that my young age was in my favor – that I might live a little bit longer. But as Brittany said, when you're so young – even if somebody tells that you have a few years to live – it – it seems like you're going to die tomorrow. So, it – it's an upheaval in your whole life. It really crushes all the plans that you had.
LEMON: Yeah. You don't really...agree with...what she's doing, but do you – I'm sure you can – obviously, you can empathize here?
JOHNSON: Oh, of course. That's – that's the reason I reached out in the first place. I was almost in tears when I saw her video, because I know what she's going through. And that's the reason that I wanted to reach out to her. A lot of the articles I've read are offering suggestions to her. But as Brittany said, until you've been in my shoes, you can't understand what I'm going through, and that's really true....And I felt like since I was in her shoes – I am in her shoes – that I could reach out, and maybe offer a different perspective.
LEMON: I'm going to go real quickly. You said, 'Dear Brittany, our lives are worth living even with brain cancer.' You wrote, 'I agree that her time is tough, but her decision is anything but brave.' Why isn't she brave in your eyes?
JOHNSON: Well, I think that suicide, in itself – obviously, I'm Catholic, and I disagree with it. But she's undergoing so much fear right now. And as I wrote in my article, as I've been suffering, I've looked for any kind of way out of the suffering that I could find – whether temporary – any kind of temptations. And I have a lot of friends with brain cancer that are getting addicted to alcohol. It's something that you just want to get away from, no matter what decision it is – no matter what it takes. And I really think that suicide is-
LEMON: She shouldn't have – make the choice to – you know, to die on her own terms?
JOHNSON: I don't think so. I believe that God made us with human dignity, and that human dignity continues whether or not we are alive and fully functioning; or if some of our faculties are taken away – or even if we're laying in a hospice bed. I don't think that, somehow, my dignity – when I'm laying in my bed dying – is less than it is right now.
LEMON: Yeah. That's going to have be the last word. Philip Johnson, Barbara Coombs, thank you very much.