An excerpt from Corinne Carey, senior campaign director for Compassion & Choices in New York and New Jersey, whose Op-Ed was featured in The Buffalo News. You can read the full story here (subscription required):

“As New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act moves closer to passage in Albany, the opposition’s fearmongering is already underway and will surely increase. 

The claims being made are neither new, nor are they supported by any evidence. 

By going so far as to say the bill would put a “bullseye” on the back of those with disabilities, opponents are creating unnecessary fear within some of New York’s most vulnerable communities. 

This small, but vocal, minority of “rights” groups offers not a single bit of data from states where medical aid in dying is an end-of-life option, where these laws have been under a microscope for nearly 30 years. There is no evidence that these laws have ever placed anyone in danger. 

The most ardent opponents can only point to cases from Canada and Europe, where the model of assisted dying is entirely different from the one adopted in the United States, which has strict safeguards and core eligibility criteria. 

In all U.S. jurisdictions that authorize medical aid in dying, people are eligible only if they are: 

• An adult. 
• Terminally ill (defined in the state’s bill as having an illness that is incurable and irreversible). 
• Given a prognosis of six months or less to live. 
• Mentally capable of making the decision. 
• Requesting the medication on their own. 
• Able to self-ingest the medication when they are ready. 
• Able to change their mind at any time. 

A treating physician and a consulting physician both have to confirm all of the above core eligibility requirements.” 

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