The New York legislature failed to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act for the tenth year in a row since the bill was first introduced in 2015. Legislators next meet in January 2025.
The bill would allow terminally ill, mentally capable adult with six months or less to live to request a prescription from their doctor for medication they can take to die peacefully when their suffering becomes too great to bear. Ten states, including New Jersey, Vermont and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C., have authorized medical aid in dying.
Compassion and Choices’ Corinne Carey vowed to continue the campaign, “Ten long years of educating legislators and building momentum, gathering sponsors and supporters. Ten very long years of watching terminally ill advocates succumb – often suffering in those final days – without having the option for a peaceful death. We’ll be back at the Capitol in January when the legislature returns to demand a vote, but six months is a long time for dying New Yorkers living on borrowed time.”
A recent poll conducted by Yougov revealed that 72-73% of New Yorkers support medical aid in dying. The bill is broadly supported across political and ethnic lines.
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