New York’s 2024 legislative session ended in June without passage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act. The session marked nine years of advocacy for medical aid-in-dying legislation in Albany.

In the waning days of this session — as I lamented the uncertainty and unfairness of New York’s legislative process — a volunteer advocate who is also a hospice doctor shared a new perspective that I will carry into this post-session summer: Approach this work every day as though the bill will never pass.

This may sound like a strange way for a driven campaign director to think about her work (and make no mistake: no one questions whether the bill will pass, just when), but what my doctor friend was trying to show me is that there is joy, satisfaction, and value in empowering New Yorkers to chart their own end-of-life journeys, even when it doesn’t result in legislative victory. Our movement is much more than lobbying. It is a place for catharsis, healing, and community.

The results of the November 2024 election send a new group of lawmakers to Albany, and as we mark a decade of working towards this major social change in New York, I am encouraging all of us to see 2025 as the beginning of a new chapter that will bring the compassionate option of medical aid in dying to the Empire State. , I believe this will stand as a watershed year in New York’s end-of-life options movement.

We expanded our coalition of statewide and local grassroots groups that support the bill to close to 60, including The New York State Council of Churches, the New York State Association of Counties, the New York State Bar Association and The Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY). Just recently, the New York State Nurses Association also adopted a resolution in favor of the bill.

The importance of the Medical Society’s support cannot be overstated. The two largest physician organizations in the state — MSSNY and The New York State Academy of Family Physicians — now support medical aid-in-dying legislation. This not only removes a barrier for New York lawmakers whose objection was based on MSSNY’s previous position, but also dismisses the assertion that no major medical associations support this compassionate option.

We demonstrated again via polling that a majority of New Yorkers (72%) support medical aid in dying. A YouGov poll conducted in January showed strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents, as well as strong majority support among every racial, religious, and regional demographic.

We engaged thousands of new and existing supporters across the state through a robust social media presence and digital advertising campaign, generating thousands of messages to lawmakers.

Perhaps most importantly, we maintained a consistent presence in Albany with lobby days, and eventually demonstrations, held every week.