Kingston, NY – Following the passage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act in the Assembly in late April, the bill has passed in the Senate today. It must next be signed by the Governor.Typically, this happens closer to the end of the year.

“A little over a month ago, the Assembly passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act for the first time since it was introduced ten years ago,” said Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, “And today, it passed in the Senate for the first time, bringing it closer than ever to becoming law. The fight for this bill illustrates two things: first, just how long some fights can take, and second, that no matter how long some fights take, and how uphill the challenge may seem on any given day, even the most impossible demands become possible when people are committed, strategic, and persistent. When a bill hasn’t passed for ten years, you expect the naysayers to suggest the effort is futile, that the time and money would be better spent doing something else, and maybe you feel demoralized and the fight starts to lose momentum, but that’s not what happened here. Year after year, a lot of work was put into expanding the coalition of legislators and constituents who support this bill. Today, it has majority support among voters across party lines.

As one of my colleagues said on the Assembly floor, this country has a difficult relationship with death. It was understandable, then, that many of my colleagues were truly torn, from a philosophical and moral perspective, on whether or not to support this bill. I decided to support it early when I was running for office and it was brought to my attention by seniors in the district who had seen their loved ones die a painful and helpless death—an experience they did not wish on anyone else, including themselves. I did my research, I spoke to my future colleagues who were cosponsors of the bill, including Assemblymember Souffrant-Forrest who as a nurse witnessed the suffering that can come at the end of life, and I became a cosponsor as soon as I took office. The reason was simple: when someone is dying, and the act of keeping them alive is so painful that it becomes indistinguishable from torture, when their body has given in so much that feces has to be pumped out through the mouth, the most dignifying thing that person deserves is some semblance of control. In fact, there is data to show that when given the choice to take prescription medicine to hasten certain death in such cases, the vast majority of the patients choose not to do so – knowing they have the option can be enough to bring the solace that’s needed.

It’s important to note that New York’s version of the bill is unlike Canada’s, and the state must be steadfast in its commitment to ensure that those who are aging, ill or disabled get the care and the quality of life they need. It is not enough to give the dying the option of a compassionate death – it is equally important, if not more, to give those who want to live the means to do so, whether that’s universal access to healthcare and long-term care or access to stable and affordable housing. Regardless, the bill we passed has much tighter guardrails compared to Canada’s, and only applies to exceptional circumstances where a terminally ill person with less than six months to live can opt for a compassionate death – and they must be the one to take the action themselves, nobody else can do it on their behalf.”

The bill is also supported by New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU): “The right to make choices about one’s medical care is rooted in the fundamental civil liberties principles of autonomy, privacy, bodily integrity, and self-determination. These vital liberty interests are firmly protected under the United States and New York constitutions.”

Further, they state,” The Medical Aid in Dying Act addresses the risk of coercion through multiple safeguards to ensure that a person’s request for aid in dying is voluntary. Only a qualified individual herself may request life-ending medication, both orally and with a signed written form. A written request for medication must be witnessed by two adults, neither of whom can be the attending or consulting physician and one of whom must not be a relative, be entitled to a portion of the qualified individual’s estate, or be an employee of a health care facility where the qualified individual is being treated. If either physician believes the individual may lack capacity, she must refer the patient for a mental health evaluation. And the bill plainly provides that no person shall qualify for aid in dying solely because of age or disability.”