Will New York Approve 'Aid in Dying' in the 2023 Legislative Session?

State lawmakers in Albany have reintroduced legislation that would allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults to be prescribed medication to end their life on their own timeline — rather than waiting to die from the disease itself.

The bill, called the Aid in Dying Act by its supporters, has slowly gained support over the last few years, but hadn’t garnered the votes to pass in both chambers of the Legislature.

It’s sponsored in the Assembly by Assm. Amy Paulin, D-Westchester, who was inspired to carry the bill by the death of her sister, who had a terminal disease. 

“Everytime I stand here, I get filled with emotion remembering the words that my sister said on her dying bed, ‘when am I going to die already?’ Paulin said.“This bill allows for our loved ones to die in peace, to die with their loved one’s around them.”

Paulin was joined at the state capitol in Albany Tuesday by supporters of the bill, and its new sponsor in the Senate: Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, D-Manhattan. It was previously sponsored by Sen. Diane Savino, who didn’t run for re-election last year.

It’s been a complicated issue at the Capitol, where most lawmakers have opted against supporting the bill in its current form. 

Some of the bill’s opponents, including some advocates for people with disabilities, have argued that terminal patients shouldn’t see their body’s decline as a sign to end their life. Other opponents have cited faith-based reasons.

They refer to the legislation as physician-assisted suicide, and see it as morally wrong. 

Assm. Chantel Jackson said she was opposed to the bill originally, but changed her mind after hearing from supporters of the legislation.

“When this came across my desk, the first thing I said was, ‘Nope, I believe God has the choice. Don’t let doctors play God, I don’t even think this makes sense,’” Jackson said. 

“I met with the advocates and quickly my mind was changed in that moment because I got to hear from people that actually experienced this pain of watching a family member die and not have that choice.”

It’s personal for Stacey Gibson, who lost her husband after a long and painful battle with a degenerative neurological disease. 

It took eight years for the disease to run its excruciating course, Gibson said. Without another option to end his life, he decided to starve himself for 12 days.

“What we’re fighting for – for Medical Aid in Dying – is not suicide,” Gibson said. “These are people who are terminally ill and their body is dying. All they want to do is die peacefully and stop their suffering.”

Gibson hopes that this year’s legislative session will be the year that ensures an alternative to being faced with the same decision her husband had to make. 

Lawmakers have until early June to consider the bill before they leave Albany for the year at the end of the legislative session.