New York Senate Passes Bill to Allow Terminally Ill Residents to Choose Medical Aid in Dying
The New York State Senate has passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would allow someone who is terminally ill to choose to end their life
Those eligible must be diagnosed with a terminal illness that's medically determined to "produce death within six months"
The bill now goes to Governor Kathy Hochul for her signature but it's unclear if she will sign itThe New York State Senate has passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which allows those who are terminally ill to choose to end their life. The bill now goes to Governor Kathy Hochul for her signature.
If the bill passes, it would make New York the twelfth state to allow terminally ill people to choose medical aid in dying.
'It isn't about ending a person's life, but shortening their death,' State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, one of the bill's sponsors, told The New York Times.
The bill defines those eligible as being mentally competent and having a 'terminal illness' that 'has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within six months.' Those who are eligible for medical aid in dying can request, in writing, a lethal dose of medication that they would self-administer.
The request must be witnessed by two people who are not blood relatives, or who would 'be entitled to any portion of the estate of the patient upon death.'
'This is about personal autonomy,' Hoylman-Sigal told the NYT. 'This is about liberty. This is about exercising one's own freedom to control one's own body.'
Opponents like state Sen. George Borrello have referred to the bill as 'state-authorized suicide' to CBS News.
As Gothamist reports, it's unclear whether or not Hochul will sign the bill into law; a spokesperson for the governor has said she will review the legislation. In a statement on the passing the bill, Hoylman-Sigal said 70% of the state's residents approve the legislation, which will "finally give New Yorkers access to this compassionate and dignified end of life care option.'
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Democratic governors embrace border security, reject Trump immigrant 'abuses'
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Three prominent Democratic U.S. governors face a grilling on Thursday from a Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives panel over immigration policy, as President Donald Trump steps up a crackdown on people living in the country illegally. The governors of New York, Illinois and Minnesota are due to testify to the House Oversight Committee following days of protests in downtown Los Angeles over the Trump administration's aggressive ramping up of arrests of migrants. Tensions escalated as Trump ordered the National Guard and Marines into California to provide additional security. Trump's immigration crackdown has become a major political flashpoint between the White House and national Democrats. California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, seen as a contender for the party's presidential nomination in 2028, in a Tuesday night video speech accused Trump of choosing "theatrics over public safety." Minnesota's Tim Walz, who ran unsuccessfully for vice president last year; Illinois' JB Pritzker, also seen a 2028 hopeful, and New York's Kathy Hochul, walked a careful line in their prepared testimony for Thursday's hearing, voicing support for immigration enforcement, if not Trump's tactics. "If they are undocumented, we want them out of Illinois and out of our country," Pritzker said. At the same time, Pritzker lashed out against "any violations of the law or abuses of power" and said, "Law-abiding, hardworking, tax-paying people who have been in this country for years should have a path to citizenship." Reuters/Ipsos polls show Trump getting more support for his handling of immigration than any other policy area. "Minnesota is not a sanctuary state," Walz proclaimed, adding that state officials cooperate with federal immigration authorities, while noting that it offers "respect" to cities and counties that choose to give no more than the legal minimum support to the Department of Homeland Security.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Republicans in Congress Set to Grill Democratic Governors on Immigration
Congressional Republicans are set on Thursday to question three Democratic governors about their states' immigration policies, amplifying a partisan clash as President Trump continues a showdown with California officials and anti-deportation protests spread across the country. The three governors — Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York — were called to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform long before the unrest in Los Angeles, which began last week with protests over workplace raids and escalated after Mr. Trump sent Marines and National Guard troops to the city. But House Republicans are all but certain to point to the scenes of violent clashes in California and elsewhere as they seek to vilify Democratic officials over immigration policies that Mr. Trump and his allies in Congress claim shield criminals. Democrats have remained divided over their party's stance on immigration enforcement; some recent polls have shown them to be politically vulnerable on the issue compared to Republicans. But they are united in their efforts to cast Mr. Trump's large-scale immigration crackdown and deployment of troops as an abuse of presidential power and a violation of the Constitution. Thursday's hearing reflects a larger Republican effort to harness voters' anxieties over immigration and crime for political gains. Mr. Trump during his campaign last year broadly depicted undocumented immigrants as violent and dangerous, blaming Democrats for encouraging a 'migrant crime wave' that was contradicted by statistics. Earlier this year, the president issued executive orders targeting so-called sanctuary cities, jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities or have policies explicitly intended to protect undocumented immigrants against detention or deportation. One order directs the withholding of federal funds from cities and counties that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Poll shows low-profile New York City comptroller race narrowing in the home stretch
NEW YORK — A new poll shows the race for New York City comptroller tightening, with Justin Brannan narrowing the gap in a contest still led by Mark Levine. And with less than two weeks until the Democratic primary, nearly half of New Yorkers remain undecided in the race to be the city's top fiscal watchdog, according to the poll Brannan's team commissioned and shared in full with POLITICO. It was conducted by Public Policy Polling, and queried 573 likely primary voters between June 6 and 7, with a 4.1 percent margin of error. Levine, the Manhattan borough president, led Brannan — the City Council finance committee chair — 30 percent to 19 percent among likely Democratic voters, according to the poll. That same survey showed state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani leapfrogging Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary. The 11-point gap was smaller than a May 27 survey from Honan Strategy Group that had Levine at 38 percent and Brannan at 13 percent, a shift that left the Brooklyn lawmaker's team feeling bullish. Both surveys found 44 percent of likely voters undecided. 'A race that was once considered locked up is now anything but,' Brannan campaign adviser Alyssa Cass wrote in a campaign memo shared with POLITICO. 'As nearly half the electorate remains undecided, Brannan is the candidate with the most room to grow and the clearest path to an upset.' Brannan's team believes the tides will continue to shift in his favor. They cited the smaller gap that came after 10 days of going on air with a television ad along with a niche stat from their poll: Of voters who had seen Brannan's ads, they preferred him 40 percent to 37 percent. Those viewers, however, made up a small slice of the electorate at 23 percent. And it was unclear how many of those people knew of Levine or his campaign. Levine's camp countered that the polls have consistently shown him ahead of Brannan by double digits. And they touted the endorsement Wednesday night of a major municipal labor group. 'Mark has all the momentum in this race. We just earned the endorsement of the United Federation of Teachers, representing hundreds of thousands of NYC public school educators — adding to the 180-plus elected officials, faith leaders, labor unions and community groups backing our campaign,' Campaign Manager Matt Rubin said in a statement. 'Right now, we're focused on connecting with New Yorkers where they are — on the streets, at subway stops and at their doors.' A person on Levine's team also took issue with the survey methodology, suggesting it over sampled Brannan's home borough of Brooklyn — especially with affluent voters — and under sampled Black voters Levine is doing better with. The Public Policy Polling showed few New Yorkers have barely tuned into the contest: More than half of those surveyed had no opinion about the favorability of the two candidates, and around half of the likely Democratic primary voters had not seen an ad for either. Brannan and Levine were the only two comptroller candidates to qualify for a pair of televised debates, which mainly showcased how little they differ on policy. During their first meeting, they engaged in several back-and-forths over President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but had a conspicuous aversion to talking about Andrew Cuomo, who at the time had been leading the mayoral Democratic primary in every poll.
