New York Assembly passes bill to legalize assisted suicide for the terminally ill

The New York State Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill that would legalize medically assisted suicide for terminally ill people sending the measure to the state Senate The Healthcare Aid in Dying Act passed the Assembly by an - vote The measure would allow a mentally competent adult who has been given six months or less to live the option of being prescribed lethal drugs The bill's sponsor Assemblywoman Amy Paulin mentioned she was motivated to introduce the bill after her sister died of ovarian cancer I don t know whether she would have availed herself of this medication if she had the opportunity but I can tell you that when she died I wasn t there Paulin a Democrat explained reporters according to the New York Post MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS PROPOSE CONTROVERSIAL MEDICALLY-ASSISTED SUICIDE BILL When she died my other sisters were not there and that was her wish she continued Democrat Assemblywoman Karines Reyes a registered nurse explained the bill would allow people to die with dignity If you don t believe in it then don t avail yourself of that choice but I think it is inhumane for us to tell people that we are forcing them to continue their suffering Reyes announced Medically-assisted suicide has been gaining assistance in New York over the last decade but opponents of the measure argue it is akin to state-sponsored assisted suicide I watched my mom die I watched my daughter die And I know that for a fact that none of us are getting out of here alive At specific point or the other we re all going to go but I don t believe there should be a combination of six drugs offered to someone to end their life Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes a Democrat commented on the Assembly floor according to the New York Post TERMINALLY ILL MISSOURI WOMAN TAKING TRIP TO SWITZERLAND FOR ASSISTED SUICIDE Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh a Republican explained each and every life has value in arguing against the proposal Progress may not be on a straight line and will look different to each of us but this idea of giving up and dying is not excelsior ever upward It s incredibly sad she mentioned referring to the state motto Excelsior which means ever upward State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins revealed she would discuss the bill with senators but she did not say whether she would bring it up for a floor vote The conversation had begun in earnest last year So I think we have time to look at it seriously she described reporters It is unclear if Democrat Gov Kathy Hochul would sign the measure if it passed the state legislature There are U S states with legalized physician-assisted suicide Several other countries including Canada Germany Switzerland and the Netherlands have also legalized assisted suicide