On Wednesday afternoon, Jennifer Glass, a proponent for physician-assisted aid in dying, advocated for legislation to help those with terminal illnesses at an event hosted for a political science class on campus.
Glass’ presentation, titled FearLess, was centered on her personal struggle with a form of lung cancer that has a five-year survival rate of 5 percent. UC Berkeley students, community members and members of Glass’ family gathered in Wheeler Auditorium to hear her speak. She addressed her own activism, as well as the ways that regular citizens can get involved in the push for a comprehensive law to help those facing terminal illnesses.
Physician-assisted death, sometimes called assisted suicide, is an end-of-life option in which physicians prescribe a barbiturate to mentally sound adults facing terminal illness. In recent months, discussion surrounding this issue has increased hugely, according to Jacie Rowe, a representative from the physician-assisted death advocacy group Compassion and Choices.
According to campus professor Alan Ross, who hosted the event for his activism class, Political Science 179, physician-assisted death was the No. 1 subject that his students wanted to hear about when he inquired about their interests.
“It’s an issue whose time has come,” Glass said.
This emerging discussion is in part due to the prominence of the case of 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, a UC Berkeley class of 2006 alumna with brain cancer who opted to end her life by means of physician-assisted death in November. Both Rowe and Maynard’s widower, fellow UC Berkeley alumnus Dan Diaz, joined Glass on stage for questions at the end of the presentation.
In speaking, Glass was participating in a 35-year-old lecture series now run by Ross that has hosted figures such as former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom and political strategist and author Christine Pelosi.
Glass said her advocacy for the freedom of choice for terminally ill patients is still very personal for her. Glass, whose cancer has been contained through aggressive chemotherapy, radiation and targeted pharmaceutical treatment, is not in remission but not currently growing.
Both Glass and Diaz are advocates for a California legislative bill called the End of Life Option Act, a law similar to Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act that allows physicians to administer life-ending pharmaceuticals to patients facing terminal illness.
Though she is morally against physician-assisted death, Samara Reed, a junior taking Political Science 179, said she enjoyed hearing Glass’ perspective and would consider voting in favor of legislation such as the End of Life Option Act.
“If you’re looking for a cause that will have enormous impact and affect every life, then know that this does,” Glass said. “End-of-life issues affect every life — there’s no escaping this one.”
Contact Kate Wolffe at kwolffe@dailycal.org.