New York State Governor Could Approve Highly Controversial Bill

New York state lawmakers narrowly passed what The New York Post is referring to as highly controversial legislation Monday. The next step is whether or not New York Governor Kathy Hochul sings the bill into law. According to The Post, her next move rains unclear at this time.

According to Compassion and Choices, ten other states and the District of Columbia have already legalized similar measures into law.

As previously stated, this is not the first time lawmakers have pushed to get a bill such as this passed into law in the state of New York. According to SI Live, similar acts were first introduced in the New York State Senate back in 2015. City and State NY had previously reported that the bill has now failed to pass for going on ten years.

New York State Governor Could Approve Highly Controversial Bill

The New York Post reports that the State Senate passed legislation that would "allow terminally ill people to take their own lives with the help of doctors" in a narrow vote.

Some referred to the bill's passing as “one of the great social reforms of our state.”, though others urge the Governor to "uphold New York’s commitment to suicide prevention.".

The New York Post says that the measure barely passed 35 to 27. The Post describes the bill as allowing a "mentally competent, terminally ill adult with six months or less to live to request a fatal cocktail of drugs from a doctor."

The bill was previously struck down in June 2024, as the New York State Senate had reported that the "Medical Aid in Dying Act failed to advance through the state legislature for the fifth-straight time."

Similar laws are already legal in ten other states, including New Jersey, Vermont, and Maine. Results of a 2015 poll, posted at End of Life Choices New York, say that 77% of state residents support the right for terminally ill individuals to end their lives.