Debbie talks to bestselling author and Washington Post columnist Steven Petrow about his sister Julie's decision to end her life using a legal procedure called Medical Aid in Dying (MAID).
In the Intro to this episode, you'll hear Steven Petrow talking about his sister Julie Petrow’s death last June 2023. After years of battling ovarian cancer, Julie, Steven’s five-years-younger little sister, chose to die in her New Jersey home by drinking a lethal cocktail. She was surrounded by her family. And it was legal. She used a procedure called MAID or medical aid in dying, which is now legal in 10 states in the U.S. plus the district of Columbia.
But before she died, she made Steven, who is a bestselling author and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, promise to write about how she chose to die, in order to raise awareness around MAID, a practice that many people don’t know about, or don’t understand, even though it was first legalized in Oregon, almost 30 years ago.
So Steven did, publishing an essay about Julie and her decision in The New York Times a few months ago. It got a huge reception with over 600 comments on the NYT’s site.
In this episode, Steven explains more:
This is simply a fascinating episode and Steven is a lovely guest, eloquent, respectful, and informed. It was such a pleasure to have him back on the show. As always, see below for links to his articles and books, including the NYT article, and a link to the first time he was on the show almost three years ago.
//////////
Don't miss Debbie's Behind The Scenes essay on Substack accompanying every episode of the podcast.
//////////
Mentioned in this episode or useful:
Connect with Debbie:
Our Media Partners:
How to Support this podcast:
Credits: