Brittany Maynard Dies, With no states voting on right-to-die laws Tuesday, the weekend death of Brittany Maynard will not have an immediate political impact.
But advocates for expanding such laws beyond a handful of states expect momentum from young woman’s story to carry into the new year, when state legislatures go into session.
“Up and down New England, the east coast, and then in the west, too,” said Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Death with Dignity National Center. “I think on both coasts we’re going to see legislative action.”
That optimism, however, will be met with the political reality that such legislation has been pushed for years, often unsuccessfully.
“Suicide is never a good solution, regardless of the situation that one is confronting,” said Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, a Catholic group. On Tuesday the Vatican’s top bioethics official, Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, called her actions “reprehensible” and that “the gesture in and of itself should be condemned.”
Maynard, terminally ill with brain cancer, was in the national spotlight for about a month after publicizing that she and her husband, Dan Diaz, moved to Portland from northern California so that she could use the Oregon law to end her life on her own terms. Maynard told journalists she planned to die on 1 November, and followed through on Saturday. She was 29.
She approached the advocacy group Compassion & Choices during the summer in hopes that telling her story would lead to political action in California and across the nation. Whether that happens is an open question. Maynard, however, succeeded in raising awareness about an issue that was trending on Facebook and Twitter after her death.
“Younger people support death with dignity at really high levels, but it’s not necessarily relevant or salient to their lives,” Sandeen said. “I think the Brittany Maynard story makes it real. It makes it something that could happen to them. It makes it an important issue to address.”
Vermont last year became the first state to legalize aid in dying through legislation — Oregon and Washington did so by referendum; in Montana and New Mexico more recently, it was effectively legalized through court decisions.
In New Jersey, the state assembly considered but failed to pass an aid-in-dying bill in June. Democratic assemblyman John Burzichelli, who authored the bill, said he is hopeful it can pass the state’s lower chamber before the end of the year. If that happens, he expects the Senate to pass it soon after, he said.
“It’s very clear to me that the majority voice in New Jersey want another choice,” Burzichelli said.
Republican governor Chris Christie has said he opposes the measure.
Compassion & Choice is spending about $7m a year to protect the practice in states where it has been authorized and passing legislation in states where it has not, said Mickey MacIntyre, the group’s chief program officer.
An online fund for Maynard has raised $75,000 as of Monday. That money will be specifically used in California, with the wishes of the family to advance the issue there. MacIntyre said the primary goal of the website was visibility, not fundraising.
The group said the website has had more than 5 million unique visitors over the past month. Maynard’s two videos, meanwhile, have been viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube alone.
“The incredible number of people who have been inspired by Brittany’s story, we hope to translate that into action in moving toward legislative change in this coming session,” MacIntyre said.
Of course, not everyone who viewed the videos is a fan. Social conservatives have sharply criticized Maynard’s decision, and it’s unlikely any Republican-controlled legislatures will be considering right-to-die laws.
A leader of a legislative committee that handles health issues in Wyoming said she believes there’s no chance the state would enact a law allowing doctor-assisted suicide. Republicans outnumber Democrats 52-to-8 in the Wyoming House and 26-to-4 in the Wyoming Senate.
“My sense is Wyoming would reject it out of hand, it would just be a flat ‘no,’” said state representative Elaine Harvey, adding that people in the state have said consistently that they value life.
“That’s my personal values as well: we don’t get to pick,” Harvey said. “The big guy upstairs chooses when we go and when we stay.”
Maynard’s relatives asked for privacy Monday and have not released information about funeral arrangements. A spokesman for Compassion & Choices said she died peacefully, surrounded by family and friends in the bedroom of her Portland home. It’s unknown if a doctor was in the room, but it’s rare for one to be present.
Oregon was the first US state to make it legal for a doctor to prescribe a life-ending drug to a terminally ill patient of sound mind who makes the request. The patient must swallow the drug without help; it is illegal for a doctor to administer it. Through June 30, just over 800 people had used the law since it took effect shortly after the November 1997 election.
Those who take the drug — often large doses of pentobarbital or secobarbital — typically fall asleep shortly after taking it and die within a half-hour. In rare cases, patients have regurgitated the drug or regained consciousness after ingestion.
Willi Moelzer, 74, a retired high school teacher from Eugene, died last year after obtaining a life-ending prescription from his doctor.
“For my husband it was very peaceful,” said Janet Moelzer, who now volunteers for Compassion & Choices.
“He was looking forward to it,” she said Monday. “We had a little party honoring him beforehand and then he went to his back to the bedroom at the time we had decided on. He drank his orange juice with the medicine in it, and went to sleep.”
