After conversation surrounding her decision to end her life sparked a social media storm regarding right-to-die ethics and legislation, Brittany Maynard died Saturday.
Maynard rose to national attention when her medical diagnosis, and her approach to coping with it, was reported in news outlets. Maynard was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and chose to move to Oregon in order to end her life, an act lawful under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act.
Maynard’s story reignited a national debate as to whether an individual could choose to end their own life. Texas A&M School of Law professors said while Oregon is one of four states to permit physician-assisted suicide, Texas does not, and the law is unlikely to change anytime soon.
“What we are talking about here is a physician aiding a patient by giving that patient some legal lethal medication, and physician aid in dying means the patient taking the medication himself or herself — in this case the women took the drugs herself,” said Maxine Harrington, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of law at the A&M law school. “That is very different than euthanasia, where someone actually administers the medication to another person. No state allows euthanasia.”
The American Medical Association code of medical ethics takes the position that physicians should not participate in assisted suicide, Harrington said.
Susan Ayres, professor of law at the A&M law school, said Texas policy criminalizes all forms of suicide — including suicide assistance.
“Basically, it says a person commits an offense if, with intent to promote or assist the commission of suicide by another, he aids or attempts to aid the other to commit or attempt to commit suicide,” Ayres said.
Ayres said Texas law protects those who prevent a suicide even if one of the parties is inadvertently harmed in the intervention. For example, Ayres said if a bystander tackles an individual to prevent their suicide but hurts them in the process, the bystander cannot be sued.
In Texas, if a person aids in committing suicide and it results in serious bodily injury or death, then they are charged with a felony that can result in serious jail time, Harrington said. She said it is unlikely the state law will change soon. There are currently no court cases or acts in the system that address assisted suicide.
“I have my doubts whether it would be accepted in Texas,” Harrington said.
When it comes to Texas, Ayres said society has a “policy of protecting life.”
The other three states that permit physician-assisted suicide are Washington, Montana and Vermont.