Ahead of our Oct. 23 show on the aid-in-dying movement, and Brittany Maynard’s choice to end her own life, Maynard wrote into the show to talk about her decision.
A portion of her comments appear below.
I am Brittany Maynard and it concerns me that Dr. Ira Byock will speak on my “behalf” at all again. I watched a special on PBS where this same individual spoke about my case as though he knew personal details about me, saying some things that were quite frankly not true. For example, he said a gentle death would be available to me easily through hospice, unfortunately that would be after a great length of time, with lots of suffering, physical and emotional, and loss for my young body.
He is right, this is not being accomplished successfully for many terminally ill Americans. This needs to change. I agree with him there. But perhaps most disturbingly, Byock claimed that Compassion and Choices had somehow taken advantage of me through “exploitation” and that I feel compelled to die now based on public expectations. I do not, this is my choice. I am not that weak.
The day is my choice. I have the right to change my mind at any time, the patient right that is critical to understanding Death with Dignity. The claim of exploitation is utterly false, considering I had gone through the entire process of moving, physician approval for Death With Dignity, and filled my prescription before I ever even spoke to anyone at Compassion and Choices about volunteering and decided to share my story.
I support the organization because I support the cause. I believe this is a healthcare right and choice that should be available to all terminally ill Americans.
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