The mother of Brittany Maynard spoke out in an essay published this week about her daughter's final moments, and why she is an advocate for assisted suicide.
Maynard had terminal brain cancer, and chose to end her life on November 1 in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. Her mother, Debbie Ziegler, wants others to have the same option.
"My daughter Brittany Maynard wanted to die in her beautiful four-poster bed," Ziegler wrote in the Daily Mail.
Maynard's doctor prescribed her a medication of which she could take a lethal dose while surrounded by her mother, husband Dan Diaz, stepfather Gary Holmes, and other family members.
"She chose a favourite poet, Mary Oliver, whose poetry we could read to her in those minutes after she ingested the medicine," Zeigler recounted.
"On the day of her death Dan was at her side, lying on his side, so that he could talk to her and stroke her hair or cheek.
"I was in a chair on the other side of Brittany. Her curtains were open and the late afternoon sunlight shone through them.
"Brittany drank the medication in one prolonged swallow. She ate a small bite of ice cream and settled on her pillow. 'Tell me a good story, babe,' she said softly to Dan as he kissed her cheek.
"Before Dan could get even two sentences into a story about one of the special times they'd shared together, my daughter was asleep."
Ziegler made a promise to her daughter that she would continue to fight for nationwide Death with Dignity legislation, and has lobbied Congress to allow terminally-ill adults to end their lives with assistance.
She reported that at least 16 states have introduced such bills, in addition to the five states that already allow physician-assisted suicide.
