Supporters push for 'Medical Aid in Dying' legislation

ALBANY — In the video, Zachary Cohen, an artist active in local government, plays a melancholy tune on a black grand piano. The camera cuts to him entering his East Hampton home with a smile, and then he grows solemn.

“I certainly support the Medical Aid in Dying act,” he says of a bill that would provide a choice for New Yorkers to end their lives in the face of incurable, lethal diseases. “Ultimately, it should be an individual’s choice. It would be just so much better for anyone living in New York if we passed this law.”

Cohen died in October at 72 from incurable brain cancer after suffering worsening symptoms of pain and confusion for two years. And the bill he lobbied for still is languishing in Albany, despite the passage of similar measures in 10 states and Washington, D.C.

The New York bill, however, has been stopped every year since 2015 by staunch opposition from opponents on religious and medical grounds. Supporters hope this year will different.

They believe they have momentum from a poll showing strong public support and the moves by other states. They point to the lack of abuses or problems reported since 2019 in New Jersey, which was the most recent state to adopt such a law.

But they acknowledge that the personal nature of the issue makes it hard to predict an outcome this year before the legislative session is scheduled to end June 2.

“This is one of the things that if people can avoid the conversation, they do, even though an overwhelming number of New Yorkers support it," said Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), who has sponsored the bill in varying forms since 2015. “Everyone comes to this with their own personal gut feeling.”

Supporters say the latest legislation addresses many of the concerns raised by opponents. It requires a person be “mentally competent, terminally ill” and at least 18 years old to request medication they would self-administer.

Further, a patient “may at any time rescind a request” and if a mental health professional determines the patient “lacks the capacity to make an informed decision, the patient shall not be deemed a qualified individual” and won’t receive the medication. A series of spoken and written authorizations before witnesses is also part of the proposed procedure.

“This is their choice and legislators shouldn’t get in their way," Savino said.

The issue is personal and colored by bedrock religious beliefs, the experience of those with loved ones on their deathbeds, and deep concerns about abuses that could lead to the death of people with disabilities — as well as the fear that poor individuals could feel pressured to avoid huge medical expenses.

Assemb. Amy Paulin's sister died of ovarian cancer.

“The memories of my sister’s horrific suffering at the end of her life are forever seared into my mind,” said Paulin (D-Scarsdale), the Assembly sponsor of the bill. “We must go forward in a much more compassionate way.”

Supporters face a formidable opponent in the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide, a coalition of organizations that has kept the bill bottled up in committee for years. The alliance has its own stories of people who defied prognoses of months to live and, through physicians willing to take a chance, thrived and spent years more with their families.

“Death with dignity is not handing people suicide drugs; it is accompanying them with tenderness and care to address their physical and emotional needs as they complete their earthly journey," said Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference. "With suicide rates and depression on the rise, what kind of message are we sending to society that says some lives are not worth living?

Polls have shown most New Yorkers support the idea behind the bill. A Marist College poll in October, for example, found 58% of New Yorkers surveyed supported allowing a physician to prescribe a drug so that adults with less than six months to live can choose to end their own lives.

The majority view is held among Democrats and Republicans, whites and nonwhites and New York City residents, suburbanites and upstate residents, according to the poll. The strongest support was among those living in the New York City suburbs, including Long Island, with a college education.

“We watched our daughter suffer,” said Daren Eilert of Manhattan. Ayla Rain Eilert, a ballet dancer and yoga instructor, died of metastatic tongue cancer in April. She was 24.

“You couldn’t imagine the amount of pain,” her father said. “She knew she was dying and was not afraid. She begged not to suffer.”

Supporters of the legislation held a candlelight memorial in Albany last month that attracted more than 100 relatives and friends of advocates.

Outside the memorial, a few activists for the disabled, many in wheelchairs, occasionally shouted their opposition. One carried a sign, “Not Dead Yet.”

They are part of the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide, which includes Catholic and Jewish groups, the New York State Right to Life Committee, advocates for the disabled and the state Medical Society physicians’ group.

The alliance said the bill would be a “complete abdication of our moral responsibility to persons who are suffering from terminal illnesses" and would contribute to a "suicide contagion."

"The legalization of assisted suicide is associated with a significant increase in the rate of overall suicide," said Donna Besler, spokeswoman for the alliance. "Assisted suicide is still suicide. It should never become the public policy position of New York to encourage the premature taking one’s life.”

Assemb. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) said the bill, like his friend Zachary Cohen, is unique.

“The positions that legislators take, it seems not to be related to political parties,” Thiele said. “I think people have individual, personal feelings about this bill that overrides the usual partisan politics that comes in Albany. Some of that may be personal philosophy. It may be religion. But it’s personal, not political, to most legislators, and that problem has been true across the board.”

Still, “I think it’s really close this year," he said.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.