“Senators, please listen to dying New Yorkers and give them the power to make their own end-of-life decisions.”
Corinne Carey, Compassion & Choices’ senior campaign director for New York/New Jersey, joined Senators Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Jessica Scarcella-Spanton to stand with leaders of major statewide organizations at a Capitol news conference in support of the Medical Aid in Dying Act (A.136/S.138). The bill was passed in the Assembly last week and advocates are urging the Senate to give final passage.
Ten states, including New Jersey, Vermont and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C., have authorized medical aid in dying, which allows a 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 if their pain or suffering becomes too great. Over the last quarter-century, more than one-third of patients requesting the prescription never used it, experiencing great peace of mind simply knowing that the option was available to them.
The news conference highlighted the depth of support for the Medical Aid in Dying Act from numerous important medical, legal and other statewide associations, including:
Carey said: “The breadth and depth of support for medical aid in dying from more than 60 medical, legal, and civic groups representing so many communities across this state is overwhelming. We thank these groups for their efforts, and we know we would not be here today without their support. Collectively, our message is very clear and very simple: Senators, please listen to dying New Yorkers and give them the power to make their own end-of-life decisions.”
“NYSAFP, representing nearly 6,000 board-certified physicians, residents, and students in family medicine across New York State, has strongly supported medical aid in dying since a resolution was passed by our Congress of Delegates in 2017 and relentlessly advocated for the bill’s passage ever since,” said Dr. Rachelle Brilliant, President of the New York State Academy of Family Physicians. “Physicians have an obligation to relieve human suffering and care for our patients with compassion and respect for human dignity. We feel strongly that medical aid in dying should be an option for terminally ill patients in New York and that their physician should be empowered to help them implement their wishes.”
As a MSSNY delegate from Nassau County, I’m honored to report that the 2025 House of Delegates (HOD) reaffirmed, by over 80%, last year’s endorsement of MAiD legislation in NYS. My 2024 HOD resolution supporting MAiD legislation was overwhelmingly backed by testimony, during the reference committee hearing, from physicians representing counties across the entire state,” said Ronald Menzin, MD, MSSNY member and a Past President of Nassau County Medical Society. “The acknowledgement that patients and physicians will retain the right to opt in or decline to participate in this care was a highlight of our discussions. Now is the time to vote in favor of the compassion and caring this law will provide. Please get it done.”
Robin Chappelle Golston, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, said: “Medical aid in dying is about compassion, dignity, and access – it ensures that people facing unbearable suffering have the option to die on their own terms. The right to bodily autonomy and self-determination is not constrained to one aspect of being, but rather the spectrum of life. Our fight and passion for the right to make deeply personal and private decisions regarding our bodies and our futures extends to ensuring the terminally ill have the agency to make end-of-life decisions for themselves, with dignity and compassion. We applaud Senator Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Paulin for their leadership on this issue and are proud to stand with all the activists gathered here today to ensure New Yorkers have access to this vital care.”
Representing the New York State National Organization of Women and its President, former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Mickey Belosi said: “Nothing is more fundamental to women than the dignity and freedom of choice, which encompasses the right to choose the circumstances of one’s own death. When medical technology cannot provide adequate relief from pain, protection of dignity or one is in danger of losing clarity of self NOW recognizes and affirms the full autonomy of women and all to make healthcare decisions including choosing the circumstances in which to die. We cannot allow the state or religion of some individuals to deny women full access to choices concerning terminal care and ultimately death. NOW affirms that the right to make decisions about terminating one’s life is inherent to feminist principles of self-determination and autonomy and we support legislation that safeguards against coercive intrusion into such choices. We fully support the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act.”
Dr. Jeremy Boal, former Chief Clinical Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, who stepped down from that role in late 2023 after learning that he had ALS, said: “As a physician who has cared for many patients with late stage and terminal illnesses, and as a person living with ALS, I am placing my hope in the Senate to do the right thing for me and for so many other New Yorkers. This legislation does not increase the number of New Yorkers who will die, it simply increases the number who can die without excessive pain and suffering.”
Jake Moffett, son of Brian Moffett, who died of ALS last year, wanting to be the first New Yorkers to use the Medical Aid in Dying Act, said: “For my dad, it’s too late. But it’s not too late for the thousands of New Yorkers who are still fighting for the right to die with dignity and without suffering. If New York State senators believe in compassion, mercy and love, they must pass the bill. Do it for Brian Moffett. It doesn’t matter that he was a dad, a brother, a friend, a man, a New Yorker, a covered-bridge aficionado, or a music lover. What mattered was that he was a person existing in this world, in an age where we have modern marvels that allow us to live, and die, with autonomy and peace.”
Jules Netherland, of the Bronx, who is living with Stage 4 cancer, said: “I am a New Yorker who has been living with Stage 4 breast cancer for more than two years. I have incurable metastatic breast cancer. My treatment became palliative rather than curative. I was told the life expectancy of someone like me is, on average, five to seven years. I am two years in and counting. Medical aid in dying isn’t about ending my life, or any life, prematurely. This is about autonomy. When my time comes, I want the option for a peaceful and beautiful death. Everything about cancer treatment is hard; my death shouldn’t have to be. Come on Senate, help me out and do the right thing. Pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act this year.”
Darren Chervitz, of Riverdale, a young dad with two daughters, who has Stage 3 prostate cancer, said: “Last year, I was diagnosed with aggressive Stage 3 prostate cancer, which forced me to confront what it means to be mortal. For the past six months, I have been in an experimental clinical trial to shrink my tumors, and earlier this month I had surgery to remove my prostate and hopefully rid my body of cancer. But I know there are no guarantees with cancer, as is true with life. And if one day I am facing a diagnosis of a terminal illness, what a comfort it would be to know that medical aid in dying will be an option for me. This bill isn’t about giving up – it’s about giving people the freedom to choose how they face the end, surrounded by love, dignity, and peace. Now, let’s finish the job by getting this bill signed into law and showing the world what it means to honor both life and death.”
Stacey Gibson, of Ossining, witnessed her husband, Sid, die a horrible death after he stopped eating and drinking, said: “When my husband and best friend, Sid Gibson, died in 2015 from a debilitating progressive neurological disease, he did not have any legal options to die in a way that was in keeping with his values and wishes. At the end of his life, he instructed me to find a path to ensure that other New Yorkers would not suffer as he had. I promised him I would do so. I have had the privilege of advocating for the Medical Aid in Dying Act for 10 years. I am appreciative of what the Assembly has done and now I look forward to the Senate also passing the bill.”
Cassandra Domingos Johnson, of Clifton Park, who is living with breast cancer, said: “As a cancer patient, the only thing that matters to me as a New York citizen right now is having medical aid in dying passed. None of us deserve to suffer a nightmare death when a peaceful option with dignity exists. It’s not a controversial bill, unless you believe that the terminally ill don’t have rights to their own body and shouldn’t be allowed a peaceful death. I thank every single lawmaker who has stood behind this bill from the bottom of my heart. And I shake my head in disbelief that we still have to fight lawmakers for this in 2025 when our neighbors have surpassed us in human rights.”
Melissa Milch, of Amherst, whose father, Dr. Robert Milch, co-founded Hospice Buffalo and advocated for this bill, said: “My father, Dr Robert Milch, was a fierce advocate for end-of-life care and a staunch supporter of medical aid in dying. Before he passed away on June 4, 2021, my son promised him that we would not rest until the Medical Aid in Dying Act was passed in New York State. How I wish he was here to speak with and applaud the Assembly and Speaker Heastie for the courage to pass the bill. In my mind’s eye I can see my dad turning to the Senate and Senate Majority Leader… his look says it all: Do this. Carry on. Pass the bill this year.”
Nancy Murphy, of Vermontville, NY, who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and watched her sister legally access medical aid in dying law in Vermont, said: “My sister, Joan Kline, died August 9, 2016, using Vermont’s medical aid in dying law. She believed that people should have choices at the end of life. Our family understood and agreed with her position. On the day she decided, my husband and I, her two sons, daughter, and daughter-in-law, minister, a good friend and a hospice nurse gathered around her. We opened a bottle of champagne and toasted her, each person saying what she had meant to them, and telling her we loved her. She thanked each of us, told us that she loved us. We handed her the medicine, which she drank. As she slowly drifted into a deep sleep, we held her hands and put our hands on her body. She died two hours later. It was so peaceful. As I have recently been diagnosed with cancer, I know I want the same option in my home in New York.”
Susan Rahn, of Webster, who has been living with metastatic breast cancer for 12 years, said: “I’m a terminally ill New Yorker. I’ve been living with incurable breast cancer since 2013. I don’t want to die. I want to live. I’ve been supporting the Medical Aid in Dying Act for over 10 years. Thank you to the New York State Assembly and Speaker Heastie for supporting this bill. I can only hope and pray the Senate will also pass the bill this year.”
Kate Sanford, of Accord, NY, whose son, Benjamin, died of cancer while suffering greatly, said: “To the lawmakers and tireless supporters fighting to pass this bill, thank you. I’ve seen the desperate need first-hand, when my adult son Benjamin was dying of cancer and suffering, he desperately wanted this choice to give him peace of mind and to end his life with dignity, with his loved ones by his side. I have been proudly advocating for this bill in his honor. I hope other patients and families can take comfort when this bill passes, knowing there is a humane path if they choose.”
Barb Thomas, of Saratoga Springs, whose husband was terminally ill with brain cancer and asked her to shoot him, rather than let him suffer, said: “As the League of Women Voters point person on this issue I’m overjoyed that Medical Aid in Dying has finally passed in the Assembly – and my husband, Bob Thomas, who wanted me to shoot him to put him out of the misery caused by his incurable brain cancer, would have applauded Speaker Heastie for moving this issue forward, and then would turned to the Senate and say ‘your turn, get it done.’”
Arelis Torres, of the Bronx, whose wife, currently in remission from cancer, said, “My wife bravely fought cancer undergoing an aggressive treatment. If the cancer returns, she likely will not seek treatment to combat it. I don’t want her to suffer and endure immeasurable pain as she waits for the moment of inevitable death. I believe in quality of life. Supporting her in her wishes is the greatest show of love and respect for her individuality and decision-making. Dying with peace and dignity from a terminal illness should be a right we all have. It’s now time for the Senate and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins to take a stand in support of terminally ill New Yorkers.”
Lindsay Wright, of Manhattan, whose husband, Youssef Cohen, died a painful death while unsuccessfully seeking the option of medical aid in dying, said: “In 2016, my late husband, Youssef Cohen, became the first public advocate for Medical Aid in Dying in New York. He was passionate about giving terminally ill New Yorkers a choice to end their lives without suffering. I’ve been telling Youssef’s story to legislators for nine years to persuade them to pass this act. The Assembly finally listened, and I’m hoping the Senate will do the same.”
The Medical Aid in Dying Act is supported by numerous advocacy groups in the state, including:
1 in 9 LI Breast Cancer Action Coalition
Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester
Catholic Vote Common Good
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
Harlem United
Indivisible Westchester
Latino Commission on AIDS
Latinos for Healthcare Equity
League of Women Voters of NYS
Medical Society of State of NY (MSSNY)
New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
NYS Bar Association
NYS Council of Churches
NYS Nurses Association (NYSNA)
NYS Psychiatric Association
NYS Public Health Association NOW-NY
Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts
SAGE NY (Services for LGBT elders)
StateWide Senior Action Council
Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion
WESPAC Foundation
Women’s Bar Assn. of NYS
More information on medical aid in dying and the New York campaign can be found on Compassion & Choices’ website, Facebook or Twitter.
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