A 46-year-old woman diagnosed with terminal cancer is asking the state of California to allow her to die.
The patient, Christy O'Donnell, recently sued the state of California so that she will be granted a prescription she can take in case she finds the pain from her sickness already unbearable.
Despite her wish to be allowed to die, O'Donnell, a single mother of a 21-year-old daughter, said she is still professing her Christian faith.
"I've been a Christian my whole entire life and I am today. I believe in God, I pray, and I have an entire support system that prays for me," she said in a video released by Compassion and Choices, a group which advocates the right to die.
Last year, O'Donnell was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. She has since tried chemotheraphy treatments, but the cancer spread to her brain.
More aggressive medications are still available for O'Donnell to combat the disease. However, she stated two main reasons for seeking doctor-assisted suicide.
First, she said she is afraid to experience intense pain before dying.
"The most likely way that I'm going to die with the lung cancer is that my left lung will fill with fluid, I'll start drowning in my own fluid," O'Donnell said.
"I spend an inordinate amount of time being afraid of the pain that I'm going to endure. All of that time that my mind spends thinking about that, I am not living," she added.
Second, O'Donnell said she does not want her daughter to see her going through so much pain and suffering.
"My biggest fear about my last moments on earth are that ... I'm going to be in so much physical pain that it's going to make my passing traumatic for me and traumatic for my daughter," she said.
The California Senate recently passed a proposed End of Life Option Act. The Assembly is set to vote on the measure before September.
