29-Y-O Cancer-Stricken Brittany Maynard to End Her Life After Husband's Birthday Under Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law
Brittany Maynard says she will commit suicide under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act on Nov. 1, one day after her husband's birthday, at home in bed to escape the burden of her terminal brain cancer.
in an emotional video posted to YouTube Monday, the 29-year-old explained that shortly after she got married last year, she started having extremely painful headaches that she couldn't explain until doctors told her — while she was on vacation with her husband, Dan, on Jan. 1 — that she had terminal cancer.
"Right when I was I was diagnosed my husband and I were actively trying for a family, which is heartbreaking for us both. And then I was diagnosed this past New Year's. We went away to the wine country [and] by Jan. 1, the following day, I was diagnosed with cancer and told I was terminally ill," she said.
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In a few short months, she explained that her life expectancy fell from up to 10 years to six months.
Faced with few options in her home state of California, according to the video, Brittany and her family moved to Oregon so she could access its Death With Dignity law so she could avoid the pain that was expected with her aggressive brain cancer.
Brittany met the criteria for assisted suicide under the law and was prescribed medication that will allow her to die whenever she chooses.
"I don't wake up every day and look at it," she chuckled uneasily about the prescription in the video. She then explained: "It's in a safe spot and I know that it's there when I need it."
When she dies, Brittany said she will be surrounded by family and her best friend, in her matrimonial bed while her favorite music plays in the background.
"I plan to be surrounded by my immediate family, which is my husband and my mother and my step-father and my best friend, who is also a physician. … I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband … and pass peacefully with some music that I like in the background," she added.
Dan said he supports his wife's decision.
"Between suffering or deciding when enough is enough … it just to me provides a lot of relief and comfort that, OK, that option is there, if and when we decide or she decides it's time," he said.
Before she dies by suicide, however, Brittany wants to use the rest of her time on earth to lobby for every American to have access to assisted suicide services.
Oregon, according to The Brittany Fund, is one of five states, including Washington, Montana, Vermont and New Mexico that allows assisted suicides.
"Brittany recognizes it is unfair that the vast majority of people cannot access death with dignity because they do not have the resources and time to uproot their family, seek appropriate medical care and establish a support system," noted The Brittany Fund.
"As a result, in the few weeks she has left to live, Brittany wants to advocate for access for death with dignity in California and nationwide in partnership with Compassion & Choices, the nation's leading end-of-life choice advocacy organization," it noted.
Watch Brittany's story below:
