Brittany Maynard

Brittany Lauren Maynard (November 19, 1984 – November 1, 2014) was an American activist with terminal cancer who decided that she would end her own life "when the time seemed right." She was an advocate for the legalization of assisted suicide for the terminally ill.[5][6]

Brittany Maynard
Born
Brittany Lauren Maynard

(1984-11-19)November 19, 1984
Anaheim, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 1, 2014(2014-11-01) (aged 29)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Cause of deathPhysician assisted suicide[1][note 1][2]
Brain tumor[note 2][3]
Known forAdvocate for the "Right to Die"
SpouseDaniel Esteban Diaz[4] (2012–2014; her death)

Biography

Maynard was born in Anaheim, California, on November 19, 1984.[2] Maynard graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2006 from the College of Letters and Science and the University of California, Irvine School of Education in 2010 with a master's degree in education.[2] Interested in international travel since high school, Maynard taught at orphanages in Kathmandu, Nepal and traveled also to Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Southeast Asian countries.[7] She also took frequent trips to Europe and engaged in activities such as trekking, mountain climbing, and bungee jumping. Following her death, Maynard's mother reflected that this risk-taking behavior was likely symptomatic of the brain tumor, which had been growing for a decade.[8]

On January 1, 2014, she was diagnosed with grade 2 astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer,[5][9] and had a partial craniotomy and a partial resection of her temporal lobe.[10] The cancer returned in April 2014, and her diagnosis was then elevated to grade 4 astrocytoma, also known as glioblastoma, with a prognosis of six months to live.[10]

She moved from California to Oregon to take advantage of Oregon's Death with Dignity Law,[11] saying she had decided that "death with dignity was the best option for me and my family."[9][12] She partnered with Compassion & Choices to create the Brittany Maynard Fund, which seeks to legalize assisted death in states where it is now illegal.[5] She also wrote an opinion piece for CNN titled "My Right to Death with Dignity at 29".[13]

On October 29, 2014, she stated that "it doesn't seem like the right time right now" but that she would still end her own life at some future point.[14] Maynard planned to end her life on November 1, 2014, with drugs prescribed by her doctor.[15]

Personal life

Maynard married Daniel Esteban "Dan" Diaz in September 2012, and before she received her diagnosis, they had hoped to have a family.[5][16][17] In October 2014 she stated that she had checked off the last item on her bucket list by visiting the Grand Canyon.[18] Aside from her husband, she was guided by her mother, Deborah Ziegler, and her stepfather, Gary Holmes.[19][20]

Death

It was reported on November 2, 2014, by People and various other media sources that Maynard had ended her life on November 1 surrounded by her loved ones.[3][21][22][23] In accordance with Oregon state law regarding death with dignity, a brain tumor is the official cause of death on her death certificate.[2]

Maynard wrote in her final online post: "Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me ... but would have taken so much more."[24]

Activism and legacy

In the weeks leading up to her death, Maynard was said to have become the face of the United States right-to-die debate, commanding public attention,[25][26][27] with over 16 million unique visitors reading her story on People.com.[28] Arthur Caplan, of New York University's Division of Medical ethics, wrote that because Maynard was "young, vivacious, attractive … and a very different kind of person" from the average patient seeking physician-assisted dying—then averaging age 71 in Oregon—she "changed the optics of the debate" and got people in her generation interested in the issue.[25][29] Marcia Angell, the former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, wrote that Maynard was a "new face" of the assisted dying movement who had "greatly helped future patients who want the same choice."[30] However, some terminally ill individuals publicly criticized Maynard's promotion of assisted suicide. Terminal cancer patients Kara Tippetts and Maggie Karner both sent letters to Maynard asking her to reconsider.[31]

Three days after Maynard's death, a top Catholic church official mentioned her decision to die in the context of reiterating the Catholic Church's position on the right-to-die debate, noting that, "Suicide is not a good thing. It is a bad thing because it is saying no to life and to everything it means with respect to our mission in the world and toward those around us."[32] The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) asserted that from its perspective, Maynard's chosen non-profit, Compassion & Choices had "exploited the illness of Brittany Maynard to promote legalization of doctor prescribed suicide in the states."[25][33] Brittany's mother defended her daughter's decision via a letter released by Compassion & Choices, stating "My twenty-nine-year-old daughter's choice to die gently rather than suffer physical and mental degradation and intense pain does not deserve to be labelled as reprehensible by strangers a continent away who do not know her or the particulars of her situation."[34]

At the time of Maynard's death, only three states had death-with-dignity laws, with two others having court rulings protecting physicians who help patients die, and bills having been introduced in seven other states.[25] Polls have found the American public divided on the introduction of such laws.[35][36] Maynard's activism has been a strong focus of Connecticut's proposed assisted death legislation.[37][38]

Maynard's family have played video testimony that she recorded for proposed legislative change in her home state of California.[39] On September 11, 2015, California lawmakers gave final approval to Senate Bill (SB 128) End of Life Option Act.[40] A modified version of the bill, ABx2 15, was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on October 5, 2015.[41] It went into effect on June 9, 2016.[42] On May 15, 2018, a state judge struck down this law on the grounds that it was improper to consider a right-to-die bill during a special session of the state legislature that was supposed to be focused on health care spending and access issues.[43] The law was reinstated by a state appeals court the following month.[44]

Hawaii has become the seventh state to legalize medically assisted suicide. Hawaii Governor David Ige signed the bill into law in Honolulu on Thursday, April 5, 2018. The law took effect on January 1, 2019.

See also

Notes
  1. This is the technical cause of death (COD).
  2. This is the official COD noted on Maynard's death certificate.

References
  1. Judy Lin (25 March 2015). "Brittany Maynard Speaks From the Grave". Associated Press/USNews. Debbie Ziegler, center, the mother of Brittany Maynard, speaks in support of proposed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients
  2. Slotnik, Daniel E. (November 3, 2014). "Brittany Maynard, 'Death With Dignity' Ally, Dies at 29". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  3. Hirschhorn, Dan. "Terminally Ill Woman Who Planned Assisted-Suicide Dies". Time. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  4. "Dan Diaz : Terminally Ill Brittany Maynard’s Husband", Daily Entertainment News, October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  5. Schwartz, Rachel (October 7, 2014). "29-year-old woman diagnosed with terminal cancer dedicates remaining time to end-of-life choice advocacy". ABC7 New York. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  6. Brittany Maynard, Advocate for Death With Dignity, Ends Her Life
  7. Egan, Nicole Weisensee (November 3, 2014). "Inside Brittany Maynard's Vibrant Life". People. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  8. Ziegler, Deborah (October 25, 2016). Wild and Precious Life. Atria/Emily Bestler Books.
  9. Luscombe, Belinda (October 8, 2014). "Brittany Maynard: Death With Dignity, Oregon Right to Die Law". Time. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  10. Bever, Lindsey (October 8, 2014). "Cancer patient Brittany Maynard, 29, scheduled her death for Nov. 1". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  11. "My right to death with dignity at 29". CNN. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  12. Allen, Nick (October 8, 2014). "Cancer sufferer: Why I'm choosing to die on Nov 1 aged 29". The Telegraph (UK). Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  13. Maynard, Brittany (October 14, 2014). "My Right to Death with Dignity at 29". Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  14. CNN (October 29, 2014). "Brittany Maynard, the Terminally Ill Woman Choosing to Die Nov 1 Tells CNN: Now 'Doesn't Seem Like the Right Time'", WGN TV; retrieved October 30, 2014.
  15. Egan, Nicole Weisensee (October 6, 2014). "Terminally Ill 29-Year-Old Woman: Why I'm Choosing to Die on My Own Terms". People. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  16. Jessica Durando (November 2, 2014). "Brittany Maynard, right-to-die advocate, ends her life". USA TODAY.
  17. Bill Briggs (October 30, 2014). "Brittany Maynard to her husband: 'My heart is so full of love for you'". TODAY. MSNBC.
  18. "Brittany Maynard ticks off last item on bucket list". CNN. October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  19. Profile, myfox8.com, November 2, 2014; accessed November 2, 2014.
  20. Official obituary for Brittany Maynard by her family, ktla.com, November 2, 2014; accessed November 3, 2014.
  21. Egan, Nicole (November 2, 2014). "Terminally Ill Woman Brittany Maynard Has Ended Her Own Life". People. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  22. Gutierrez, Melody (September 2, 2014). "Reports: Right-to-Die Advocate Brittany Maynard Dies", San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  23. "Terminally Ill Brittany Maynard End Her Life", Fox 5 San Diego, November 2, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  24. Hartmann, Margaret (November 3, 2014). "Brittany Maynard, 'Death With Dignity' Advocate, Ends her Life". New York. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  25. Bever, Lindsey (November 3, 2014). "How Brittany Maynard may change the right-to-die debate". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015.
  26. Sharon Cohen (October 31, 2014). "Brittany Maynard: New face of right-to-die". Associated Press.
  27. Josh Sanburn (November 1, 2014). "Brittany Maynard Could Revive the Stalled 'Death With Dignity' Movement". Time.
  28. Michael Sebastian (November 6, 2014). "Brittany Maynard Story Leads to Record Digital Traffic for People". Ad Age.
  29. Arthur L. Caplan, PhD (October 28, 2014). "Terminally Ill Woman Chooses Suicide, May Influence a New Generation". Medscape.
  30. Marcia Angell (October 31, 2014). "The Brittany Maynard effect: How she is changing the debate on assisted dying". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  31. Zurcher, Anthony (October 10, 2014). "A cancer patient's decision to die". BBC News. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  32. Corriston, Michele (November 4, 2014). "Vatican Official Condemns Terminally Ill Brittany Maynard's Decision to Die". People.
  33. COURTNEY SHERWOOD (November 3, 2014). "Condolences pour in for family of Brittany Maynard after suicide". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  34. "Brittany Maynard's Mother Responds to Vatican, Other Critics of Her Daughter's End-of-Life Choice | Compassion & Choices". Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
  35. Swift, Art. "Brittany Maynard's Story and Americans' Views on Assisted Suicide". Gallup.
  36. Lipka, Michael (October 22, 2014). "Americans of all ages divided over doctor-assisted suicide laws".
  37. Alaine Griffin (October 10, 2014). "Young Woman's Video Goes Viral, Galvanizing Right-To-Die Movement". Hartford Courant.
  38. Luke Foster (October 10, 2014). "Compassion & Choices Draws Full House at Real Art Ways for Panel Discussion, Film". ctnewsjunkie.com.
  39. "Assisted-death bill passes state Senate committee". SFGate. 25 March 2015.
  40. "California lawmakers approve right-to-die legislation". CBSNews. 11 September 2015.
  41. Howard, John (5 October 2015). "Governor signs end-of-life bill". Capitol Weekly. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  42. McGreevy, Patrick (March 10, 2016). "Aid-in-dying law to take effect June 9 in California". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  43. Calfas, Jennifer (May 16, 2018). "Overturning of California Right-to-Die Law Draws Brittany Maynard's Husband Back into Fight He Thought He Won". TIME. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  44. "State Appeals Court Reinstates California's Right-To-Die Law". The New York Times. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
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