New York becomes latest U.S. state to allow medically assisted death for terminally ill adults
NEW YORK — Terminally ill adults in New York will be able to seek medically assisted death starting Wednesday, when the state’s new law takes
NEW YORK — Terminally ill adults in New York will be able to seek medically assisted death starting Wednesday, when the state’s new law takes effect after being signed in February by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The measure gives qualifying New York residents with decisional capacity the legal option to ask a state physician to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to hasten death. The law takes effect 180 days after Hochul signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on Feb. 6. Tight safeguards were added before it became law.
It is a major shift.
What the law allows
New York’s law applies to terminally ill adults who live in the state and can make their own medical decisions. Under the measure, a physician may prescribe medication for the purpose of hastening death at the patient’s request.
The legislation also requires that all oral requests be recorded on audio or video and permanently stored in the patient’s medical record. It also calls for a mandatory mental health evaluation by a qualified professional to confirm decisional capacity.
A widening map
Supporters in other states have been pushing similar proposals. In Ohio, for example, lawmakers recently introduced legislation that would allow medical aid in dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live. In Pennsylvania, some residents support the idea, but lawmakers have not acted.
Medical aid in dying is currently legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to advocates cited in Ohio reporting. That patchwork leaves access dependent on where patients live. For families facing the end of life, geography can shape choices.
The issue has also drawn attention abroad. In Britain, campaigners have renewed efforts to revive an assisted dying bill in England and Wales, where the debate has stalled in Parliament.
New York’s law now adds another large state to the list, and patients who qualify can begin using the option as the measure takes effect.
