Fight for your right to die

A cancer patient and five physicians are leading a renewed push for right-to-die regulations in California with a lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court on Feb. 11, which seeks to exempt doctors from the state’s ban on assisted suicide.

The lawsuit challenges the ban by arguing that physician-assisted death for patients with terminal illnesses is not suicide, according to California Healthline. The suit also alleges that any such ban violates the state Constitution’s guarantees of due process, equal protection, freedom of speech and privacy.

Previous attempts to pass death-with-dignity laws in California have faced strong opposition from some physicians and religious groups, but the movement re-emerged after state resident Brittany Maynard, who had an inoperable brain tumor, famously moved to Oregon to legally end her life. She was administered a lethal dose of barbiturates prescribed by her doctor on Nov. 1 of last year. (For more on this topic, see the cover story, page 18.)