A mother-of-four suffering from a terminal disease was denied chemotherapy but told she could have assisted suicide drugs for just $1.20, despite wanting to prolong her life.

Stephanie Packer, 33, from California, has however now won the right to drugs which will buy her more time with her husband and children.

Mrs Packer, who suffers from scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune disease for which there is no cure, is now one of the faces of the 'right to live' movement battling lawmakers in a growing number of US states which have permitted assisted suicide.

Stephanie Packer, 33, was diagnosed with scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune disease in 2012 and told she had three years to live (here pictured with her family)

Taking a stand: Packer spoke in a video distributed by The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network about her struggle to get the appropriate drugs

First diagnosed in 2012, Mrs Packer was told she had three years to live.

Her insurance company initially refused to pay for chemotherapy medicine while she battled her illness.

But bosses admitted their policies meant suicide drugs could have been approved if she had requested them - with a co-payment of just $1.20.

It was only when she put pressure on the firm and threatened to tell her story that insurance bosses relented, approving the drug which may buy her more time.

She is now determined to spend as much time with her children aged between seven and 13.

Packer, who is a devout Roman Catholic, told the New York Post: 'I want my kids to see that death is a part of life.'

She said in a video distributed by The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network: 'For a while, five months or so, we’ve been trying to get me on a different chemotherapy drug for the infusions, because my doctor felt that it would be less toxic than some of the other drugs that we were going to be using.

Packer is determined to spend as much time with her children aged between seven and 13

'And I was going back and forth, and finally I had heard back from them, and they said, "Yes, we’re going to get it covered, we just have to fix a couple of things."'

Speaking on her website, Stephanie's Journey, she said: 'If everyone had a doctor who cared, no one would even consider ending their own life.

'Patients don't know how to find that doctor or how to navigate the complicated health care system and they don't have the tools or information they need.

'They're so tired and don't have the strength to deal with the fight. Instead, they'll take the assisted suicide option because it's easier.'

Packer is standing against the growing wave of pro-euthanasia campaigns which have gained in power since the case of cancer sufferer Brittany Maynard who legally took her own life with barbiturates.

But Sean Crowley from the euthanasia charity Compassion & Choices said he supported Packer, adding: 'We're heartbroken for this woman. People battle drug companies every day.

'They go through awful pain and suffering just to get well. We think people should be able to do whatever they want.'

Californian lawmakers in June gave doctors the power to carry out assisted suicide despite a fight by pro-life campaigners.

It follows similar laws in Oregon, Washington state, Vermont and Montana which allow patients, who are mentally competent but believed to have six months to live, the right to die with doctors' help. Colorado will vote on November 8 for a similar proposal.

The spread of assisted dying has reached Canada, Japan, Colombia and parts of Europe.

The Dutch government is looking into allowing the elderly to end their lives if they feel they have 'completed life' despite not suffering from terminal illnesses.