New York State Senate To Allow Terminally Ill People To End Their Lives Peacefully

The New York State Senate passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on Monday by a vote of 35-27, giving legal rights to terminally ill people to end their own lives with pharmaceutical drugs. The bill, which was approved in the State Assembly 81-67 in April, will head to Governor Kathy Hochul for final approval.

Once it gets final approval and becomes a law, the Medical Aid in Dying Act will allow terminally ill adults, who are mentally capable with a prognosis of six months or less, to end their lives peacefully using a prescription. The prognosis should be confirmed by two doctors.

New York will join other states, including Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Maine, New Mexico and New Jersey, to legalise medical aid in dying if the governor signs the bill. It's also legal in the District of Columbia.

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"It's been a long road but thanks to the dedicated activists from groups like Compassion & Choices and Death with Dignity we have built the broadest coalition ever assembled of doctors, nurses, patients and legal advocates from across New York to support this bill," Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Senate Sponsor of Medical Aid in Dying, said in a press release.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, a Westchester Democrat who leads the body's Health Committee, first introduced the bill a decade ago. It was personal for her as she had watched her sister die after a battle with cancer the year before.

"After more than a decade of advocacy, we are finally on the brink of giving terminally ill New Yorkers the autonomy and dignity they deserve at life's end. This legislation is about easing needless suffering and honouring deeply personal choices," Paulin said.