Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/409594
ByStevenDubois The Associated Press PORTLAND, ORE. With no states voting on right-to- die laws Tuesday, the week- end death of Brittany May- nard won't have an immedi- ate political impact. But advocates for ex- panding such laws beyond a handful of states expect momentum from young woman's story to carry into the new year, when state legislatures go into session. "Up and down New Eng- land, the East Coast, and then in the West, too," said Peg Sandeen, executive di- rector of the Death with Dignity National Center. "I think on both coasts we're going to see legislative ac- tion." That optimism, however, will be met with the polit- ical reality that such legis- lation has been pushed for years, often unsuccessfully. "Suicide is never a good solution, regardless of the situation that one is con- fronting," said Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, a Catholic group. Maynard, terminally ill with brain cancer, was in the national spotlight for about a month after publi- cizing that she and her hus- band, Dan Diaz, moved to Portland from Northern California so that she could use the Oregon law to end her life on her own terms. Maynard told journalists she planned to die Nov. 1, and followed through on Saturday. She was 29. She approached the ad- vocacy group Compas- sion & Choices during the summer in hopes that tell- ing her story would lead to political action in Cal- ifornia and across the na- tion. Whether that happens is an open question. May- nard, however, succeeded in raising awareness about an issue that was trending on Facebook and Twitter after her death. "Younger people support death with dignity at really high levels, but it's not nec- essarily relevant or salient to their lives," Sandeen said. "I think the Brittany May- nard story makes it real. It makes it something that could happen to them. It makes it an important is- sue to address." Vermont last year be- came the first state to le- galize aid in dying through legislation — Oregon and Washington did so by ref- erendum; in Montana and New Mexico more recently, it was effectively legalized through court decisions. In New Jersey, the state Assembly considered but failed to pass an aid-in- dying bill in June. Demo- cratic Assemblyman John Burzichelli, who authored the bill, said he is hopeful it can pass the state's lower chamber before the end of the year. If that happens, he expects the Senate to pass it soon after, he said. "It's very clear to me that the majority voice in New Jersey want another choice," Burzichelli said. Republican Gov. Chris Christie has said he opposes the measure. Compassion & Choice is spending about $7 million a year to protect the practice in states where it has been authorized and passing leg- islation in states where it has not, said Mickey Ma- cIntyre, the group's chief program officer. An online fund for May- nard has raised $75,000 as of Monday. That money will be specifically used in Cal- ifornia, with the wishes of the family to advance the issue there. MacIntyre said the primary goal of the web- site was visibility, not fun- draising. The group said the web- site has had more than 5 million unique visitors over the past month. May- nard's two videos, mean- while, have been viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube alone. "The incredible number of people who have been inspired by Brittany's story, we hope to translate that into action in moving to- ward legislative change in this coming session," Ma- cIntyre said. Of course, not everyone who viewed the videos is a fan. Social conservatives have sharply criticized May- nard's decision, and it's un- likely any Republican-con- trolled legislatures will be considering right-to-die laws. ASSISTED SUICIDE Brittany Maynard galvanizes right-to-die movement COMPASSION&CHOICES—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Brittany Maynard, a terminally ill woman who ultimately took her life under Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law, is shown in this undated photo. By Verena Dobnik The Associated Press NEW YORK Thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist at- tack, the resurrected World Trade Center has opened for business — marking an emotional milestone for both New Yorkers and the nation. Some staffers of publish- ing giant Conde Nast began working at 1 World Trade Center on Monday. The 104-story, $3.9 billion sky- scraper dominates the Man- hattan skyline. The pub- lishing giant becomes the first commercial tenant in America's tallest building. It's the centerpiece of the 16-acre site where the dec- imated twin towers once stood and where more than 2,700 people died on Sept. 11, 2001, buried un- der smoking mounds of fi- ery debris. "The New York City sky- line is whole again, as 1 World Trade Center takes its place in Lower Manhat- tan," said Patrick Foye, ex- ecutive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the building and the World Trade Center site. The agency began mov- ing into neighboring 4 World Trade Center last week. He said 1 World Trade Center "sets new stan- dards of design, construc- tion, prestige and sustain- ability; the opening of this iconic building is a major milestone in the transfor- mation of Lower Manhat- tan into a thriving 24/7 neighborhood." With construction fences gone and boxes of office equipment in place, the company moved into what Foye called "the most secure office building in America." Prior to the move, Conde Nast addressed any is- sues employees might have had about moving into the tower. The architectural firm, T.J. Gottesdiener of the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, says it took extra measures to strengthen the steel-and-concrete struc- ture. It says it is a much stronger structure than the twin towers. Starting Monday, more than 170 employees moved into five of Conde Nast's 25 floors, the company said. By early 2015, about 3,000 more staffers will move in. The building is 60 per- cent leased, with another 80,000 square feet going to the advertising firm Kids Creative, the stadium op- erator Legends Hospitality, the BMB Group investment adviser, and Servcorp, a pro- vider of executive offices. The government's Gen- eral Services Administra- tion signed up for 275,000 square feet, and the China Center, a trade and cultural facility, will cover 191,000 square feet. The eight-year construc- tion of the 1,776-foot high skyscraper came after years of political, financial and le- gal infighting that threat- ened to derail the project. The bickering slowly died down as two other towers started going up on the southeast end of the site: the now completed 4 World Trade Center whose anchor tenant is the Port Author- ity, which started moving in last week, and 3 World Trade Center, which is slowly rising. The area has prospered in recent years beyond any- one's imagination. About 60,000 more residents now live there — three times more than before 9/11 — keeping streets, restaurants and shops alive even after Wall Street and other offices close for the day. Still, it's a bittersweet vic- tory, one achieved with the past in mind as the archi- tects created 1 World Trade Center. NEW YORK World Trade Center reopens for business MARK LENNIHAN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS One World Trade Center, center, stands between the transportation hub, le , still under construction, and 7World Trade Center, second from right, on Monday in New York. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B