Brittany Maynard, a young newly-wed woman who found out earlier in the year that she had terminal brain cancer and had only a few months to live, ended her life on Saturday by taking lethal drugs which were prescribed to her by a doctor. She was living in California when she was diagnosed with the cancer, but she moved to Oregon to make use of the state’s law that allows terminally ill patients to take their own life. She had become the advocate of the controversial right-to-die campaign.
The 29-year-old was given just six months to live by doctors in California. She and her husband Dan Diaz then decided to move to Oregon as California law doesn’t allow people to take their own lives. Sean Crowley, the spokesman of Compassion and Choices, an organization that seeks to expand the aid-in-dying laws to other states in America said that Maynard died peacefully in the arms of her husband just like the way she intended it to be. Crowley said that Maynard began experiencing longer and frequent seizures which became very painful over a period of time. She decided to take the aid-in-dying medication when the pain became unbearable.
All her family members had accepted her choice when she decided to take her life on November 1st. She was never suicidal, but wanted to die on her own terms.
Earlier last month, she was interviewed by The Associated Press. During that interview she told that her family members were really hoping for a miracle to take place, but she knew that there was no cure and when they looked down at the facts, no one really wanted her to suffer anymore pain. Oregon is the first state in America where under the Death with Dignity Act, a doctor is allowed to prescribe a life-ending drug to a patient of sound mind, who has no chance of a recovery. This act came into existence thanks to the efforts of Barbara Coombs Lee, the President of Compassion and Choices.