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Brittany Maynard, death with dignity advocate, dies at 29

 
In this Oct. 21, 2014, photo provided by TheBrittanyFund.org, Brittany Maynard, left, hugs her mother Debbie Ziegler next to a helicopter at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The 29-year-old terminally ill woman has fulfilled a wish on her bucket list: visiting the Grand Canyon. [The Brittany Fund]
In this Oct. 21, 2014, photo provided by TheBrittanyFund.org, Brittany Maynard, left, hugs her mother Debbie Ziegler next to a helicopter at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The 29-year-old terminally ill woman has fulfilled a wish on her bucket list: visiting the Grand Canyon. [The Brittany Fund]
Published Nov. 3, 2014

Brittany Lauren Maynard, whose was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer earlier this year and became a "death with dignity'' advocate, ended her life Saturday in Portland, Ore. She was 29.

Compassion & Choices, an assisted-suicide advocacy group, announced Maynard's death on Facebook: ''We're sad to announce the passing of a dear and wonderful woman, Brittany Maynard. She passed peacefully in her bed surrounded by close family and loved ones.''

In her final statement, Maynard wrote on Facebook: "Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me … but would have taken so much more. The world is a beautiful place, travel has been my greatest teacher, my close friends and folks are the greatest givers. I even have a ring of support around my bed as I type … Goodbye world. Spread good energy. Pay it forward!"

Maynard's story, accompanied by photos from her pre-illness wedding day, broke hearts across the globe while igniting a national debate on the issue of physician-assisted suicide.

Because her home state of California does not have an aid-in-dying law, she moved to Oregon with her husband, Dan Diaz, 43, and her mother and stepfather.

Oregon was the first U.S. state to make it legal for a doctor to prescribe a life-ending drug to a terminally ill patient of sound mind who makes the request. The patient must swallow the drug without help; it is illegal for a doctor to administer it.

Oregon voters approved the Death With Dignity Act in 1994, then reaffirmed it — 60 percent to 40 percent — in 1997. It took more than a decade for another state to join Oregon, but four other states now have such laws.

More than 750 people in Oregon used the law to die as of Dec. 31, 2013, most of them elderly.

Information from the Associated Press and USA Today was included in this report.