- New York is about to become the 13th state to allow medically assisted suicide.
- Three physicians must confirm a terminal diagnosis under the proposed law.
- The Vatican opposes assisted suicide, labeling it as intrinsically evil.
New York is poised to become the 13th state to allow medication-assisted suicide for those who have terminal illnesses that are expected to end their lives within six months. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that she would sign the bill into law, which comes with a battery of requirements, including some she requested.
As Deseret News earlier reported, the measure passed the New York House 81-67 and its Senate 35-27 and has been sitting on Hochul’s desk since early October.
Last week, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a similar measure. Besides the 13 states, the District of Columbia has also legalized assisted suicide. Each state has its own set of rules. Some version of legal medical aid in dying also exists in California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
Oregon was the first to pass such a law, which took effect in 1997, while Montana’s came via a court ruling.
Generally the laws require someone who is mentally competent to make the decision to seek medical assistance in dying and would otherwise die within six months. The individuals generally must be able to give themselves the medication that will end their lives.
A number of other countries allow assisted suicide, including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. The Times reported that Switzerland allows it in some cases, while Italy and France let patients with terminal illnesses stop treatment in some cases.
Physician-assisted aid in dying has been a contentious topic for years, putting many religious leaders and some advocacy groups for people with disabilities at odds with those who support the legal right to choose death if one is going to die soon from an irreversible illness.
Most states that allow it eschew the term assisted suicide, preferring variations of “medical aid in dying.”
What’s in the New York law?
The Medical Aid in Dying Act requires someone expected to die within six months to make a written request for medication to end his or her life. That request has to be witnessed by two people who sign the request, which ABC News characterizes as an effort to prevent coercion. Three physicians also have to agree with the terminal diagnosis and the short life expectancy. The bill originally said two physicians, but Hochul asked that it be expanded to three. The request must include “confirmation from a psychologist or psychiatrist that the patient is capable of making the decision and is not under duress,” per ABC.
There’s also a five-day waiting period. Outpatient facilities affiliated with religious hospitals can choose not to participate.
In some states, there have been reports of an influx of people coming from other states to take advantage of a law allowing medicine-aided suicide. The New York law is limited to New York residents.
Strong feelings on all sides
The bill, introduced nearly a decade ago, has been hotly contested. The New York State Catholic Conference and other groups have expressed strong opposition. And after Hochul’s announcement that she would sign the legislation, ABC quoted Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Catholic conference, which said Hochul’s decision “signals our government’s abandonment of its most vulnerable citizens, telling people who are sick or disabled that suicide in their case is not only acceptable, but is encouraged by our elected leaders.”
The Vatican has called assisted suicide “intrinsically evil,” without exception, adding “in every situation or circumstance.” Per The New York Times, “‘Euthanasia is a crime,’ stated the document, written by the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with Pope Francis’ explicit endorsement. The document accuses lawmakers who approve legislation allowing euthanasia or assisted suicide of being ‘accomplices of a grave sin that others will execute.’”
The Vatican has also criticized use of “do not resuscitate” orders that withhold efforts to save lives.
Hochul wrote an essay published this week in the Albany Times Union explaining her decision to sign the bill into law. As she pondered it, she said she “listened to New Yorkers who are in the throes of pain and suffering. I heard from their children, who are watching a parent endure a slow, devastating decline,” among others. She also referenced her own mother, who died from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, and she noted her own religious conflict.