California Woman Chooses Death on Her own Terms, Highlighting Growing MAID Movement
By Emma Walker, World-Today-News.com – September 30, 2024
A 72-year-old California woman, Roseana Spangler-sims, ended her life on August 31st via medical aid in dying (MAID) after a determined, but ultimately unsuccessful, battle with stage four pancreatic cancer. Her story, reported extensively by People magazine, offers a poignant look at the growing movement for end-of-life autonomy and the increasingly complex support systems available too those choosing this path.
Spangler-Sims was diagnosed eighteen months ago and underwent chemotherapy for over a year, hoping for remission. However, the discovery of further metastases in June led her to conclude that continuing treatment was not for her. She opted to utilize California’s MAID law, enacted to allow terminally ill patients to control the circumstances of their death.MAID, legal in eleven US states including California, involves a physician prescribing a lethal medication that the patient self-administers. The process is designed to be peaceful, with patients typically losing consciousness within minutes and experiencing a rapid cessation of heart function.
But Spangler-Sims’ final weeks were far from simply awaiting a medical procedure.
