For some patients with terminal illnesses or health conditions, the right to die on their own terms is their number one concern. For 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, it is so important that she left her home in California and moved to Oregon, a state in which a “death with dignity” law allows her to end her own life with medication.

Maynard was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given months to live and chose to move to one of the five states that allow access to life-ending drugs so that she could end her life before the end stages of her disease took hold. Maynard is in the spotlight for sharing her story and partnering with Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group that is urging other states to change their laws in favor of assisted suicide.

Maynard posted a video online on October 6 describing her plan to end her life before her cancer did, and it went viral. On Thursday, a coalition of religious and community leaders and politicians joined Compassion & Choices in Los Angeles to begin pushing for death with dignity provisions in California.

“It is unacceptable that Brittany had to leave her home, her community and her medical team to ensure she has the option to die peacefully, in comfort and in control,” said Rev. Dr. Ignacio Castuera, a minister with the United Methodist Church and national board member of Compassion & Choices, in a statement. “It is up to all of us to make sure that we carry the torch for Brittany when she is gone.”

Lethal injection and drug-assisted suicide are usually accomplished with barbiturates, a class of drugs that exert depressive effects on the nervous system, the effects of which range from mild sedation to complete anesthesia. According to a 2011 report by Flass and Flass, a dose of secobarbital followed by pentobarbital is the most common drug application in physician-assisted suicides.

The drugs are typically mixed with juice or some other sweet substance to cover the bitter taste of the drug, and the mixture is taken orally. Patients prescribed secobarbital and/or pentobarbital are also instructed to take an antiemetic such as metoclopramide roughly one hour before taking the barbiturate to prevent nausea and vomiting.

The dignity in death movement has opponents who are ramping up their own campaign, citing the potential for abuse of the elderly, disabled, and infirmed. Whether it is moral to assist in someone else’s death is also a matter of ongoing debate. Previous attempts in California to put assisted suicide policy in place have been fought by the California Medical Association, the Roman Catholic Church, and a number of disability rights advocacy groups.