Senior Campaign Director for New York and New Jersey Corinne Carey

Compassion & Choices Senior Campaign Director for New York and New Jersey Corinne Carey and 10 other advocates were arrested May 21 in Albany for disrupting proceedings inside the State Assembly to demand that legislative leaders bring the widely supported New York Medical Aid in Dying Act to a vote and call for its passage. 

“As campaign director for a decade and a lawyer who avoids arrest, this run-in with police was not my first choice,” says Carey, “Yet the Legislature’s inaction left us no alternative. For 10 sessions we’ve worked to persuade lawmakers to approve this end-of-life option that has overwhelming support from the voting public and the vast majority of doctors, including their two most important associations: the Medical Society of the State of New York and New York State Academy of Family Physicians. We know we had the votes to pass the bill in each house. Lawmakers have the power to provide this option for dying New Yorkers to peacefully end unbearable suffering. People like Dr. Jeremy Boal, a former health system executive with ALS, underscore the urgent need. Too many have suffered, ignored by our legislative leaders. We demand a vote — for transparency if nothing else.”

Terminally ill Bronx resident Jules Netherland was one of the advocates arrested in the demonstration: “As a New Yorker living with stage 4 breast cancer, I am beyond disappointed that for the 10th year in a row the Legislature failed to even debate the bill. Because of this inaction, more terminally ill New Yorkers will die this year without the option of dying on their own terms without suffering. I certainly hope I live long enough to see the New York Legislature join 10 other states that have this compassionate option and the 72% of New Yorkers who support them.”

While Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie agreed to bring the measure to the floor for a vote, and to vote in favor of the measure himself, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins was unwilling to even bring the bill forward for a discussion.

“The failure of the Legislature to act on behalf of dying New Yorkers in 2024 represents a profound missed opportunity to provide peace to countless families throughout the state,” Carey offered. “In this rare moment when public opinion on medical aid in dying transcends partisanship, our state leaders chose not to take action, an insult to dying New Yorkers who have bravely shared their stories over the last decade, including the courageous volunteers who spent their precious final months advocating for this option. They deserve better.”

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