(Oregon Right to Life) — Time remains for pro-life advocates across the country to speak out in opposition to a radical bill that would legalize assisted suicide in New York without a mandatory waiting period or residency requirement, threatening elderly and medically complex people nationwide.
Democrats in the New York State Senate voted to pass the bill, dubbed the “Medical Aid in Dying Act,” in June, sending the measure to Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul for a signature. Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) is a common euphemism employed by advocates of legalized assisted suicide.
As Oregon Right to Life previously reported, New York’s MAID Act is similar in many ways to Oregon’s “Death With Dignity Act,” but goes even further by allowing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to vulnerable New Yorkers with no mandated waiting period.
READ: New York’s Radical Assisted Suicide Bill Heads to Governor’s Desk
To date, Governor Hochul has not yet signed the measure, which has drawn nationwide attention and concern for its lack of even basic regulations.
In a recent radio interview, Patients’ Rights Action Fund Executive Director Matt Vallière pointed out that the law would allow “…somebody with anorexia or another eating disorder” to have “access to lethal drugs from their doctor.”
“These same doctors that are supposed to be helping these young people to live and to get beyond their mental health disabilities,” he said.
The New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide similarly blasted the passage of the bill as “a grave mistake for New York” in a June 9 press statement. The group said the Senate’s decision to forward the bill to the governor “brings our state dangerously close to a public policy that many in the medical, disability, and mental health communities consider deeply flawed and unjust.”
“This is not compassionate care. It is a policy that exploits fear, undermines trust in the medical profession, and opens the door to abuse and neglect,” the group said, underscoring the “bipartisan opposition this bill has faced” and urging Governor Hochul to veto the measure.
Pro-life advocates are encouraged to take action to oppose the measure before it becomes law, especially because of its nationwide impact.
Pro-life advocates from across the country can use this form to share their opposition to New York’s assisted suicide bill. You can also contact Gov. Hochul’s office at (518) 474-8390.
Oregon Right to Life supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. We oppose all cases of euthanasia, whereby a person is deliberately killed through direct action or omission even if that act is by their permission. In Oregon, the legal form of euthanasia is physician assisted suicide, and is euphemistically called “death with dignity.” In this act, a physician prescribes lethal drugs knowing their patient intends to use the drugs to commit suicide. Read this and all our position statements here.
