Free Republic

Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman diagnosed with incurable brain cancer, committed assisted suicide at her home in Portland, Oregon on Saturday evening by swallowing a fatal dose of barbiturates. She had previously acquired the drugs legally by prescription under Oregon's controversial assisted suicide law. "Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love," she wrote on Facebook. "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...

Lovelle Svart woke up Friday knowing it was the day she would die. There was much to do. Her family and closest friends would be gathering at 11 a.m. in her mother's apartment in the Southwest Portland assisted-living center where they both lived. She directed trips to the grocery store and even called AAA to jump-start the dead battery of her 2006 Scion. She double-checked delivery of food platters from Fred Meyer: turkey sandwiches, strawberries and grapes, pretzels, almonds and sparkling water. There would be pink roses on the dining table and a boombox in the corner to play music,...