Assembly passes Medical Aid in Dying Act

For roughly the past decade, advocates have pushed for New York to approve a law that would allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives with the assistance of their doctor. On Tuesday, the Assembly passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act for the first time by a narrow margin following hours of debate. 

Sponsored by Assembly Member Amy Paulin, the legislation would permit certain terminally ill individuals – those who have received a terminal diagnosis and a prognosis of six months or less to live – to seek medication to end their life. Two doctors, including the patient’s attending physician, would need to agree that the person is of sound mind and qualifies under the law. Provided the person meets all criteria, they would receive a prescription for a cocktail of drugs that, combined, would painlessly end their life.

The bill ultimately passed with 81 voting in favor and 67 voting against. That followed about four hours of debate, with another hour spent as lawmakers took time to cast and explain their votes. A number of Democrats, along with all Republicans, voted against the measure.

For Paulin, the legislation is personal. During a rally preceding the vote, he described her sister’s battle with ovarian cancer, which returned shortly after Paulin took ownership of the Medical Aid in Dying bill. “She shouted out every five minutes, ‘When am I going to die already? The pain is so severe,’” Paulin recalled. “And the memory that I have is that, so what a terrible memory to have.” She said that she doesn’t know whether her sister would have chosen the option to take her own life were it available. “But she would have had the choice,” Paulin said.

Paulin first introduced the Medical Aid in Dying Act in 2016, but until Tuesday, it had never come to a floor vote in either chamber. The contentious legislation evokes strong emotions in both advocates – many of whom are terminally ill themselves or have terminally ill loved ones – and opponents. Often clad in yellow, activists pushing for the bill have long been a frequent sight in the state Capitol on session days. And support has grown over the years. But pushback from the likes of the Catholic Church and disability rights advocates, as well as understandable wariness of the idea of allowing doctors to legally assist in ending a life, have kept the bill stalled.

As reported by the New York Post last week, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie brought up the measure during a closed-door meeting with his members where they discussed the late budget. He indicated to reporters later that week that it was “likely” the bill would come to a vote the following week. On Monday, the legislation advanced out of both the Health and Codes Committees with some debate, with the full chamber voting on Tuesday.

Heastie applauded the bill’s passage on Tuesday. “This is about giving individuals autonomy, dignity and choice at the end of their lives,” he said in a statement. “Thank you to Assemblymember Amy Paulin for her tireless advocacy and hard work on this legislation.” Speaking to reporters on Monday, Heastie reaffirmed his own personal support for the measure, despite typically abstaining from publicly taking positions on bills his members will vote on. 

Finally voting on the bill was both personal and emotional for many members. “My father died a few weeks ago, and I had to watch my father struggle up from a football player, 220 pounds, to about 100 pounds… I could see every rib,” Assembly Member Anna Kelles said at the rally before the vote. “I will vote today for my father and let him know that others will have this choice that he didn't have.”

However, not all members of the conference agreed with the bill. Over a dozen Democrats voted against the Medical Aid in Dying Act, including several Black women who cited concerns about how the proposal would exacerbate racial disparities in health care. “While I do support the freedom to choose and freedom to decide in the pursuit of happiness, my concern and opposition of this bill comes from the great risk of targeting vulnerable communities of color, given the historical health disparities that they continue to face,” Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn said on the floor. 

Assembly Member Michaelle Solages – chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus – voted against the bill for similar reasons. “Poverty, discrimination, a lack of support. These are conditions, not of free support, but of a system that is unequal,” Solages said. Respecting the sanctity of life, whether for religious or moral reasons, also came up often in explanations of opposition. Assembly Member Al Taylor, who did vote in favor of the measure on Tuesday, referenced his own status as a pastor while discussing the bill and his original opposition, before changing his mind two years ago.

While passage in the Assembly is a massive step towards enacting the legislation into law, it still is only a first step. It has an arguably bigger hurdle to overcome in the state Senate, where Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has not offered the kind of public support that Heastie has. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Stewart-Cousins would not commit to bringing the Medical Aid in Dying Act to the floor before the end of the legislative session. But for the first time, she indicated that she would bring the bill to a vote if the support is there. “The conversation had begun in earnest last year,” she said. “And so I, you know, I think we have time.”

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the Senate sponsor of the Medical Aid in Dying Ac, expressed confidence that the measure does in fact have the support it needs among his colleagues. “I know we have the votes,” he told City & State. “It's a matter of continuing to raise the issue with leadership.” Hoylman-Sigal said that clearing that first hurdle will create momentum for the measure in the state Senate. “It’s very important to feel like you're supported by your colleagues, and that's what you're seeing in the Assembly,” he said. “And I hope we can transfer that feeling of solidarity to the Senate as soon as we can.”

If passed in the state Senate and signed by the governor, New York would become the tenth state in the nation to have a law permitting doctors to assist in the deaths of certain terminally ill patients, joining its neighbor New Jersey.