State Sen. Lois Wolk, the Davis Democrat who represents Benicia in the upper house of the Legislature, has joined Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, and Assemblymember Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, in introducing a bill that would authorize the terminally ill to end their lives medically.

The three announced the End of Life Option Act, Senate Bill 128, Wednesday in the Capitol in Sacramento, where they were joined by members of Brittany Maynard’s family and other supporters of legalizing medical aid in dying.

Maynard is the 29-year-old Anaheim native who was diagnosed Jan. 1, 2014, with grade 2 astrocytoma, a type of brain cancer. Despite surgeries and other treatment, the cancer returned in August and was elevated to grade 4. She was given about six months to live.

Maynard moved to Oregon, which has a “death with dignity” law, and chose to end her life in November. Before then, she created the Brittany Maynard Fund in partnership with nonprofit Compassion & Choices, to underwrite efforts to legalize aid-in-dying legislation in other states.

Besides Oregon, other states with such provisions are Washington, Montana, Vermont and New Mexico. Similar legislation is under consideration in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Nevada, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“Having aid-in-dying as an end-of-life option provided great relief to Brittany,” said Dan Diaz, Brittany’s widower. “It enabled my wife to focus on living her last days to the fullest, rather than having to worry about dying in agony from terminal brain cancer.”

“It’s time for terminally ill patients in California to have the same right to die peacefully in comfort as now allowed in other states,” Wolk said, explaining that support for such laws crosses multiple demographic categories. She added the issue is about “the most personal freedom there is.”

Among others who spoke at Wednesday announcement was Dr. Robert Olvera, a Catholic physician who watched his daughter, Emily Rose, 25, die last year after struggling for four months with a rare form of leukemia.

Olvera said his daughter was confined to bed, was blind, endured headaches and had trouble breathing, and medication provided no relief. “She suffered horribly as I sat next to her, unable to make it better.”

Jennifer Glass, a San Mateo woman who has fought lung cancer since 2013, called the matter a “quality of life” issue.

SB 128 would apply to qualified, terminally ill adult Californians, who would be allowed to obtain self-administered prescriptions from physicians after two doctors confirmed a prognosis of six months or less of life and that the patient is capable of making health care decisions.

The patient would have to make two oral requests, 15 days apart, to the physician, as well as one written request, and two witnesses must attest to the request.

The bill would protect physicians, pharmacists and health care operators from liability or disciplinary action if they fulfill a request, but participation would be voluntary, and participants must explain other alternatives such as hospice care.

The bill would establish felony penalties for those who coerce or forge a request, and a patient would retain the right to rescind the request.

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