Opponents Rally Against Passage
By Dan Murphy
After a decade of tireless advocacy, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin heralded the passage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act in the State Assembly. The legislation, which she authored and has championed, will provide terminally ill New Yorkers with the compassionate option to end unbearable suffering peacefully.
“For a decade, we have fought for this compassionate, commonsense legislation,” said Assemblywoman Paulin. “Today, we honor the brave advocates we have lost and fulfill a promise to countless New Yorkers who deserve autonomy, dignity, and peace at life’s end. It’s time. I’m deeply grateful to Speaker Carl Heastie for his leadership and unwavering commitment to bringing this bill to the floor—it would not have been possible without his support.”
The Medical Aid in Dying Act allows terminally ill adults to request a prescription for medication they can choose to self-ingest to die gently in their sleep. New York will join ten other states and Washington, D.C., including nearby New Jersey, Vermont, and Maine, in offering this end-of-life option.
The Medical Aid in Dying Act includes rigorous safeguards to ensure that the law is used appropriately and responsibly. Only mentally capable adults with a terminal illness—verified by two independent physicians—who have a prognosis of six months or less to live are eligible. Patients must make a verbal request, and submit a written request that is witnessed by two individuals, neither of whom can be a relative, heir, or someone affiliated with an owner, operator, or employee of the health care a facility where the patient is receiving care. The witnesses must both also have no financial interest in the patient’s estate. Patients must be capable of self-administering the medication, ensuring that the final act is a voluntary and deliberate choice. Additionally, physicians are required to inform patients of all available end-of-life care options, including hospice and palliative care. These safeguards, modeled after those in place for decades in other jurisdictions, have proven overwhelmingly effective—with no documented cases of abuse or coercion reported in the nearly 30 years of practice across the country.
“Passing this bill is about love, compassion, and reducing needless suffering,” Paulin added. “No one should have to endure agony when there is a better, humane choice available.”
“This is about giving individuals autonomy, dignity and choice at the end of their lives,” Speaker Heastie said. “This legislation will give people the ability to choose to go peacefully in their sleep, and ensure there are critical safeguards in place. Thank you to Assemblymember Amy Paulin for her tireless advocacy and hard work on this legislation.”
“We’re halfway there to putting the Medical Aid in Dying Act on the Governor’s desk,” said Corinne Carey, Senior Campaign Director for NY/NJ for Compassion & Choices. “For her dogged determination in educating her colleagues and getting the bill over the finish line in the Assembly, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin will forever be a champion, as will Speaker Heastie for his strong leadership in getting us to today. Now, all eyes and all of our amazing advocates turn our attention to the Senate,” Carey continued. “We are working with and counting on State Senator Hoylman-Sigal to be able to guide this bill to the floor – with the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins – and provide final passage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act before sending it to the Governor’s desk.”
“We are so grateful to Assemblymember Paulin for her extraordinary and tireless leadership in initiating this critically important bill and securing so many new sponsors over the years,” said David Leven, Executive Director Emeritus and Senior Consultant, End of Life Choices New York. “Having the right to end suffering and achieve a peaceful death with prescribed medicines is a matter of freedom and autonomy,” Leven added. “We are also very appreciative of the leadership of Speaker Heastie and his work to bring the Medical Aid in Dying Act to the floor for a vote,” Leven said.
The bill still has to pass the State Senate and be signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul. It is unclear whether that will happen soon, before the summer recess, or later this year.
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sponsors the companion bill in the Senate. “We have the opportunity to show New Yorkers that love, compassion, and human dignity still guide our work,” Paulin said. “This is not a political issue. It’s a human issue. We have the chance to offer our constituents dignity in dying, and we owe it to them to pass this the Medical Aid in Dying Act.”
Opposition to the bill included NYS Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar. “The New York State Conservative Party unequivocally opposes assisted suicide. It is extraordinarily dangerous for governments to involve themselves in the life-and-death decisions of innocent people, and we are extremely disappointed that the State Assembly didn’t fully think through the bill before passing it on Tuesday. If terminally ill New Yorkers wish to enter hospice, they have every right to. There is no need for Dr. Kevorkian type businesses — aka ‘Doctor Death’ — in New York.
“Canada went down this slippery path, and the results have been chilling—what began as a ‘compassionate option’ has become a bureaucratic nightmare and a moral disaster. New York will regret following suit.
“Let this be a warning: We are watching how every member of the State Assembly and State Senate vote on this bill. No one will hide behind procedure. This isn’t policy. It’s a moral line. Cross it, and voters will know exactly where you stood,” said Kassar.
An effort is underway to lobby State Senators to vote against the bill, from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
There are many reasons to oppose assisted suicide. The primary reason is that assisted suicide involves the intentional killing of a person by a lethal poison cocktail. The promoters of assisted suicide claim that this is an autonomous act, but it is not autonomous because it requires the involvement of two doctors who agree that the persons life is not worth living with one of them prescribing the lethal poison cocktail for the purpose of suicide.
We believe in caring for people not killing them. Assisted suicide is an act of providing a poison cocktail to someone who is living with suicidal ideation, often related to their health concerns. Assisted suicide constitutes killing. We believe in caring for people not killing them at their time of need. https://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2025/04/action-is-needed-new-york-state.html
Religious groups also oppose the bill and have lobbied in Albany against it.
The Advocates of Life hosted a prayer session at St. Ann’s Church in Yonkers. “Our special intentions this night: that the Lord may spare NY the scourge of Doctor-assisted suicide and for the Cardinals as they choose the next Successor of St. Peter. We will also pray for all human life and for family life. We also pray in reparation for sins against human life, human sexuality, and family life.”
