"I do not want to die. I am dying."
Lots of people have lots of opinions about 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, the newlywed with terminal brain cancer who is making headlines by choosing to end her life — and her suffering — via Oregon’s right-to-decide law.
The thing is, Brittany probably won’t ever hear them. “There may be things out there that I am not aware of, because if these are my final days, I don’t want to spend my time combing the Internet, you know?” she told Refinery29 in an interview.
NEWS: Why Brittany Maynard’s short life is so meaningful
We can, however, listen to her — not the op-eds and think pieces debating her choice — and we can read what she has to say, and learn. Or try to understand where she is coming from.
Here are 11 emotional quotes from Brittany Maynard herself (via her PEOPLE cover story, her guest column for CNN, and her video for The Brittany Maynard Fund):
1.
2.
3.
“And the way that my brain cancer would take me is terrible...I am not suicidal. If I were, I would have consumed that medication long ago. I do not want to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms.”
4.
“I can’t even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me to know that I don’t have to die the way that it’s been described to me, that my brain tumor would take me on its own.”
NEWS: Christina Applegate recalls cancer battle: "I lost my mind"
5.
“That I deserve to suffer for weeks or months in tremendous amounts of physical and emotional pain? Why should anyone have the right to make that choice for me?”
6.
“If I decide to change my mind about taking the medication, I will not take it.”
7.
"Right now it's a choice that's only available to some Americans, which is really unethical.”
8.
“And that no one tries to take it from you.”
NEWS: Joan Lunden removes wig, shares battle with breast cancer
9.
10.
“When my suffering becomes too great, I can say to all those I love, "I love you; come be by my side, and come say goodbye as I pass into whatever's next." I will die upstairs in my bedroom with my husband, mother, stepfather and best friend by my side and pass peacefully. I can't imagine trying to rob anyone else of that choice.”
11.
And check out which stars stepped out for "Stand Up to Cancer":