After a years-long legislative battle, New York’s medical aid in dying law took effect Wednesday, allowing those with terminal illnesses to end their lives by taking a lethal dose of medication.
As a state senator, Brad Hoylman-Sigal spent years fighting to pass the legislation.
“Today was a long time coming,” Hoylman-Sigal, now the Manhattan borough president, said.
New Yorkers 18 and over with six months or less to live can now request life-ending medication, subject to some restrictions.
Two physicians must sign off on any request, and there’s a five-day waiting period after the request is made. Patients must also undergo a mandatory mental health evaluation, and physicians can opt-out on moral or any other grounds.
But medical providers who opt out must transfer the patient to a willing provider.
And that is, in part, the subject of a lawsuit filed by four orders of Catholic nuns and other Catholic ministries.
“If they want to opt out, New York has said, ‘Fine, you can opt out but you’ve got to find someone else to give it to them.’ They can’t do that either,” said Adele Keim, an attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the groups.
While the state has agreed to grant the plaintiffs a temporary exemption, the lawsuit is proceeding.
“What the sisters are asking for is a true opt-out: the ability to not participate and the ability for their residents to not have to hear about this,” Keim said.
Twelve other states and Washington D.C. have enacted medical aid in dying, but New York’s law is one of the most restrictive.
Among other safeguards, patients must make the request both verbally and in writing. The option is available only to New York residents.
Still, some groups continue to raise concerns. The New York Association on Independent Living sent the state health department a letter Tuesday calling for a delay in the law’s implementation.
“We’re just not prepared,” said Blaise Bryant, communications specialist for the group. “The state didn’t provide adequate time to address concerns.”
The law’s supporters believe it’s a matter of personal freedom and dignity.
“Medical aid in dying isn’t so much about ending one’s life,” Hoylman-Sigal said, “as ending the length of death.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who announced her support for the bill last December, signed the legislation in February. She acknowledged her position is at odds with her own Catholic upbringing.
“I’m proud that I gave people the choice, when life gets really hard, that they don’t have to prolong a death that’s inevitable,” she said in February.