"How to Die in Oregon" Community Screening

Sunday, February 8 at 5 PM Compassion & Choices is presenting a community screening and discussion of How to Die in Oregon, a film by Peter Richardson at Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville, MD (5331 Baltimore Avenue). There is no admission fee. Space is limited. Reservations are requested.

The event will include the film and a discussion with guests speakers:
ANGELA ANGEL, a life-long civic activist and organizer, now Delegate for the 25th District and co-sponsor of Death with Dignity law in Maryland.

ALEXA FRASER, daughter of Alex Fraser (developer of Open University), a Maryland innovator and investor who took his life at age 90 while suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease. Fraser says,

In this thought provoking feature, filmmaker Peter Richardson gently enters the lives of the terminally ill as they consider whether – and when – to end their lives by lethal overdose. Richardson examines both sides of this complex, emotionally charged issue. What emerges is a life-affirming, staggeringly powerful portrait of what it means to die with dignity.

How to Die in Oregon won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011, along with numerous other accolades. The film was acquired for television and broacast on HBO.

The recent passing of Brittany Maynard, whose courageous story has brought end-of-life issues to the forefront of public consciousness, has many people wanting to know more about the choices she made at the end of her young life.

The film presentation is an opportunity for communities to engage in a dialogue and ask questions about the current “death with dignity” discussion in Maryland and in the context of unfolding case studies in other states including New Jersey, Colorado, and California, as well as the District of Columbia.

Compassion & Choices is featured in “How to Die in Oregon,” and is the leading nonprofit organization committed to helping everyone have the best death possible. Compassion & Choices offers free counseling, planning resources, referrals and guidance, and works across the nation to expand options at the end of life.

For information about the film, “How to Die in Oregon,” including a trailer, visit the film website: http://www.howtodieinoregon.com