April 29, 2025:  The New York State Assembly passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act (A136) Tuesday by a vote of 87–61, the last step of a two-day process. On Monday, the bill was taken up by both the Health Committee and the Codes committee, passing both.

On Tuesday morning, the bill sponsors held a press conference, while the Rules Committee passed the bill and sent it to the floor.

The Assembly began considering the bill shortly after noon. Debate lasted nearly five hours, with yellow-shirted advocates glued to their seats in the gallery.

The nature of the debate was this: individual legislators would pose questions to the bill sponsor, Amy Paulin. Legislators supporting the bill tended to ask questions whose answers outlined the general benefits, features, and safeguards in the bill. Opponents asked detailed questions about features that they thought were inadequate or would have objectionable results. After a series of questions and answers, the legislator would switch to stating their assessment of the bill and how they planned to vote.

The voting began, with legislators casting their votes electronically from their seats. During this process, some legislators took floor time to explain the reasons for their vote. A surprise at the end was that five legislators were allowed to cast their vote by videoconference.

In the greater Capital region, most Democrats voted in favor: Assemblymembers Barrett, McDonald, Romero, Shrestha, Steck, and Woerner. Assemblymember Santabarbara voted against the bill.

No Republicans voted in favor of the bill, despite the fact that several had indicated that they would vote in favor. It seems as though the Republican leadership demanded that their members vote against the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker

At the beginning of last year, it seemed as though Speaker Carl Heastie was blocking the bill from moving forward. As the campaign unfolded this year, Speaker Heastie was acting more favorably. He became a champion of the bill, and without his special efforts the bill would not have come up and passed.

January 14, 2025: Advocates from around the state came to the Capitol today for the Kick Off of the 2025 campaign to enact the Medical Aid in Dying Act. They first gathered in the Legislative Office Building, and small groups delivered information to legislators’ offices, talking with legislators and staff when possible.

Today was also the day of the Governor’s State of the State address, held in the Egg. Advocates moved to the Concourse in the Empire State Plaza, to show our presence to all the legislators as they walked by. Along with people from other groups, the medical-aid-in-dying group was permitted only on one side of hallway.

Despite a noisy and hectic situation, some lawmakers stopped to greet the advocates and others waved as they passed by.

November 29 2024: The British House of Commons approved an end-of-life bill for England and Wales on its second reading, 330–275. The bill still needs to pass through committees and other steps to achieve final approval. Interestingly, the bill was submitted as a private members bill, not by a government minister. Only by good luck in a random drawing was it chosen to receive a full debate and vote.

Two key features of the bill make it similar to medical-aid-in-dying laws in the U.S. — and different from related laws in Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands. These are: (1) to be eligible, a patient must be expected to die within six months, and (2) the patient must self-administer the provided substance. However, the procedure is more complicated than in the U.S., with every case required to be reviewed by a judge.

Especially interesting is how the assistance is to be provided under the law. Rather than being based on medication only, there will be a list of “approved substances” that may be used. The list, which is to be specified by government regulations, may include “drugs and other substances”.

The law requires a doctor to be present during the assisted death. The doctor may “prepare a medical device which will enable that person to self-administer the substance” and may “assist that person to ingest or otherwise self-administer the substance”.

The law is clear that ingestion is not the only possible method of self-administering the substance. Thus, intravenous self-administration of a lethal drug (which is an established practice in Switzerland) seems to be well within the vision of the law. Other methods that exist or may be developed may also be available.

May 7, 2024: More than 65 advocates from around the state came to Albany for the Spring Lobby Day organized by Compassion & Choices NY. In the morning the theme was “engage with everyone”. Some advocates rode the elevators in the Legislative Office Building and spoke with a captive audience about medical aid in dying. Others lined the tunnel hallway between the LOB and the Capitol and did the same.

In the afternoon a press conference was held outside the Senate lobby. The main speakers were Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (the number 2 sponsor in the Senate), Dr. Ronald Menzin (who led the Medical Society of the State of New York to formally support the bill), and Assemblymember Amy Paulin (the prime sponsor in the Assembly.)

Also speaking were legislators who are cosponsoring the bill and leaders from New York UU Justice, Planned Parenthood, the League of Women Voters, and End of Life Choices New York.

At the end of the day, the Governor’s health policy team sat down with four doctors and six advocates in the Governor’s reception hall. The doctors presented the supporting case for the bill, and the Governor’s team asked questions.

(Special thanks to Todd Cross, volunteer photographer, for photos on this day.)

The final day for the legislative session is scheduled for June 7, and advocates and supporters will be busy until the bill passes.