Gov. Hochul's 'very weighty' decision: Whether to sign medical aid in dying bill

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she knows it is a "very weighty decision on me."

It, in this case, is a decision on whether to sign or veto a bill that could make New York the 12th state to approve what supporters call "medical aid in dying" and opponents call "physician-assisted suicide."

It may not be the biggest or most immediate dilemma on the governor’s desk, given the ongoing federal government shutdown, the potential loss of food-benefit assistance to children and the needy, and the potential cancellation of energy projects.

But it might be the toughest personal decision Hochul faces among the hundreds of bills she must sign or veto by year’s end. And it’s been the subject of a passionate letter-writing and lobbying campaign by people on either side of the issue.

"There are strong views on both sides of the spectrum. Intense views on this," Hochul said recently when asked by reporters about the measure. "And I’m conscious of that and it’s going to be a very weighty decision on me between now and the end of the year, something that I take, as I said, enormously seriously and we’ll come to the right decision."

Officially titled "The Medical Aid in Dying Act," the bill would allow a "mentally competent, terminally ill adult," age 18 or older, who has a prognosis of six months or less to live, to request self-administered, life-ending medication from a physician. The measure also would provide certain protections and immunities for the prescribing health care providers, for example, for not resuscitating qualified patients who have self-administered the mediation.

Proponents had been pushing for the measure for more than nine years when they finally broke through last spring, securing a majority backing in either house in Albany.

The state Assembly approved the bill, 81-67, in April. In June, in the final days of the 2025 legislative session, the Senate followed suit, 35-27.

Almost immediately thereafter, each side switched its focus to Hochul.

Letter-writing campaigns, meetings with staff and rallies have been underway, even if they fly under the public’s radar because of the federal government shutdown and other national issues.

On Wednesday, a coalition favoring the bill brought dozens of activists to the State Capitol to deliver a petition to the governor’s office asking her to sign the measure into law. Many told personal stories about themselves or family members dealing with terminal cancer or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), suffering indescribable pain and wanting the choice to end their lives on their own terms.

"I saw what people went through with late-stage ALS," said Dr. Jeremy Boal, the former chief clinical officer of Mount Sinai Health System. He was diagnosed with ALS two years ago and is confined to a custom wheelchair.

"Even with the best palliative and hospice care, people will live and die in agony," Boal said. He said he has the "means and resources" to move to a state that already has an "aid in dying" law, such as New Jersey or Vermont, but the "vast majority of New Yorkers don’t."

He said he doesn’t know if he will eventually choose to end his own life, but "having access to medical-aid-in-dying has allowed me to live my life fully and without fear."

Another rally participant, Carol Holochwost, of Hampton Bays, said she never forgets 27 years ago when her mother, dying of a combination of illnesses and ailments, was strapped into a hospital bed, hooked to numerous instruments and with arms tied down. She was in great pain at the end of her life.

"My husband and I made a promise to each other we would never allow that to happen to us," Holochwost said.

The Catholic Church has been the most vocal opponent to the law, along with some conservative and Orthodox Jewish leaders.

"Combined, we’ve had more than 20,000 letters sent to the governor, asking her to veto the bill," said Dennis Poust, executive director of the Catholic Conference. He said the number includes letters sent from a link on the conference’s website.

Along with opposition to suicide, the conference contends the legislation is riddled with problems and a lack of safeguards. In short, they say the bill has inadequate mental-health screening for would-be participants, doesn’t require safe storage of the medication, doesn’t require witnesses attesting to a person’s mental capacity to know the person at all, and it contains no waiting period between a terminal diagnosis and receiving life-ending medications — which they say makes the New York proposal the "most permissive" aid-in-dying bill in the country.

Supporters contend that none of the opponents' fears — meds getting in the wrong hands, witnesses being paid to sign documents — have been exhibited in the states that already have such legislation.

Opponents also downplay polls that say a majority of those surveyed in New York State support the bill. What the polls don’t ask, opponents say, is whether this really is an urgent issue.

"If you asked 100 New Yorkers about their top issues, chances are nobody would say this one," Poust said.

There seems no indication that Hochul will sign or veto the legislation soon. That is a good sign, opponents say.

"When a bill is the governor’s priority, it is signed as soon as possible," Poust said. "What this does show is this is not something she asked for and it’s not one of her top political priorities."

Timing is another issue where the sides disagree — advocates want Hochul to act sooner than later.

"We know the governor is giving this careful consideration," said Corinne Carey, campaign director for the Compassion & Choices advocacy group. "But time moves very differently for the terminally ill."

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy