Legislative Office Building Display Boards:
Since 2022, Compassion & Choices New York has hosted a large-scale installation in the Legislative Office Building of the New York State Capitol Complex explaining why the legislature should expand end-of-life options and pass the Medical Aid
in Dying Act. You can view each of the 8 foot by 4 foot boards as displayed in January 2024 by clicking the link below:
2024 Legislative Office Building Display Boards (PDF)
Quick Resources:
Medical aid in dying is optional.
Optional for patients and optional for doctors. No person is required to use it. No doctor is mandated to provide it. It is illegal to force someone to use it.
Medical aid in dying includes strict eligibility requirements.
A patient must be an adult, have six months or less to live, be able to make an informed health care decision and be able to take the medication themselves.
The New York Medical Aid in Dying Act includes more than a dozen safeguards.
Two doctors must confirm that the patient has six months or less to live — due to terminal illness, not because of age or disability. Two doctors
and two independent witnesses must confirm that no coercion exists.
Medical aid in dying is a medical practice proven by decades of experience in authorized states.
In more than 20 years of experience since the first law was enacted in Oregon, and an additional 40+ years of combined evidence and
cumulative data from the laws passed in other jurisdictions there is not a single substantiated case of abuse or coercion nor any civil or criminal charges filed related to the practice. Not one.
Medical aid in dying gives patients autonomy.
This law would put the dying person in charge. Only they can request the medication. They take it themselves — no one can administer the medication to them. And they can change
their mind at any time. Medical aid in dying improves end-of-life care. Studies show palliative (“comfort”) care gets better for patients — and families — in states with medical aid in dying.
Medical aid in dying helps far more people than those who choose to use it.
Research shows just having medical aid in dying as an option relieves fear and anxiety — even for those who never choose the option.
New York Doctors support medical aid in dying.
A 2019 Medscape survey reported that when New York physicians learned about how medical aid in dying would be implemented in the bill before the state Legislature, their level of support
jumped 18 points, from a 30-point margin (56%–26%) in support to a 48-point margin (67%–19%) in support.
Learn more about New York physicians’ support for medical aid in dying:
New Yorkers want medical aid in dying. By a more than a 2–1 margin (63%–29%) New York voters support, “allowing doctors to legally prescribe lethal drugs to help terminally ill patients end their own lives.” ( Quinnipiac, 2018)
Medical aid in dying is currently authorized in eleven jurisdictions.
They include Oregon (1994), Washington (2008), Montana (2009), California (2015), Colorado (2016), the District of Columbia (2016), Hawai‘i (2018),
Maine (2019), New Mexico (2021), and our neighbors in Vermont (2013) and New Jersey (2019).
See our Medical Aid in Dying State Utilization Reports here (Last updated Feb. 1, 2021).
A printable version of this list is available here.
Document: Organizational Memos of Support (as of April 25, 2022)
Below you will find a list of campaign materials that will be updated throughout New York’s 2021/2022 legislative session, sorted with the most recently published items displayed first.
Corinne Carey, Compassion & Choices’ Senior Campaign Director for New York and New JerseyCorinne Carey, Compassion & Choices&rsquo...
Two Physicians – Both Board-Certified in Hospice Care – Will Share First-Hand Experiences of Medical Aid in Dying in NJ and DCAssemb...
Board Certified Clinical Psychologist, Professor, and On-Air Media and News Contributor joins advocacy group to push for equity at the end of li...
Psicólogo Clínico Certificado, Profesor y Colaborador de Noticias y Medios en Directo se Une a Grupo de Defensa para Impulsar la E...
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Corinne Carey, Compassion & Choices’ Senior Campaign Director for NY/NJ issued the following statement after the New York State Bar As...
Each week that New York State lawmakers were in session in 2022, Compassion & Choices New York provides a deep dive into each of the issues surrounding New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act. You can find each of these weekly communications with lawmakers here:
The successful campaigns of medical aid-in-dying bill sponsors across the country show that there is no political downside to supporting this compassionate end-of-life care option.
Polls: A Majority of New Yorkers Want the OptionSee statewide polling that shows a majority of New Yorkers want access to medical aid in dying as an end-of-life care option.
Educational Display: Pass the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act NOW!View our educational display exhibited to lawmakers and visitors at Albany's Legislative Office Building.
60 Reasons To Support New York’s Medical Aid in Dying ActThe 2020 legislative postponement occurred in the midst of Compassion & Choices’ 50 Reasons To Support New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act campaign. Read the 20 stories published while the legislature was in session, and watch this space for 40 more reasons throughout 2021.
Signature Song: "This Is Your Show"Presenting… This Is Your Show, an energetic and inspirational song written and composed exclusively for Compassion & Choices. This Is Your Show creates new avenues for sharing positive, joyful messages about personal empowerment, autonomy, gratitude and planning for an end-of-life experience aligned with YOUR values and priorities.
