Tom & Curley: Terminally ill woman still in control of her own fate

Life will continue at least for a while longer for a terminally ill 29-year-old who moved to Oregon because of the state’s death-with-dignity law. Brittany Maynard planned to end her battle with cancer on Nov. 1, but now says she likely won’t end her life on that date.

Maynard, who has advanced brain cancer, released a new video Wednesday saying that despite her previous plan to end her life this Saturday, she was not yet feeling sick enough to take those final steps.

“I still feel good enough, and I still laugh, and I still have enough joy, and I still laugh and smile with my family and friends enough, that it doesn’t seem like the right time, right now. But it will come, because I feel myself getting sicker each week.”

KIRO Radio Tom & Curley host Tom Tangney is pleased to see that she is not succumbing to any pressure as a result of having announced the original date so publicly.

“I think it’s great she’s resisting the pressure … She’s still in control of her own fate.”

Curley says that if he were facing this scenario himself, he would likely make a decision much like Maynard’s, at least depending on how his kids felt about it.

“I’d off myself immediately, unless my death could teach my children a lesson that they could carry with them the rest of their life. I would need to find out how my death could affect them.”

While Tom doesn’t think he’d ever make the choice to end his life early, he says: “I’m completely sympathetic to this woman, even though everything she’s doing goes against my own personal grain of thinking.”

More than 750 people in Oregon used the law to die as of Dec. 31, 2013. The median age of the deceased was 71. Only six were younger than 34, like Maynard.

She has become an advocate for the group Compassion & Choices, which seeks to expand death-with-dignity laws around the nation. A nationwide media campaign featuring Maynard’s story has gone viral.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.