NY Death with Dignity Legislation: Local Forum Oct. 14

As more and more people have become concerned about medically-prolonged death of loved ones and themselves, numerous New York state lawmakers have introduced aid in dying bills in Albany.

Aid in dying is a neutral term used for what advocates call death with dignity and opponents call assisted suicide.

Their efforts have increased since the death of Brittany Maynard, who moved from California to Oregon to access that state’s aid in dying law.

Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the End of Life Option Act, making access to aid in dying the law in California.

Is New York State next? Polling shows that better than 3 of 4 voters support access to aid in dying, including majorities across political and religious affiliations, officials at Compassion & Choices, the nation’s largest non-profit organization committed to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life, said in a statement.

Their EaglePoint Strategies poll, which has a 3.1 percent margin of error, was conducted Sept. 15-20, before Brown signed California’s death with dignity act into law. The survey showed strong bipartisan support upstate and downstate for similar legislation here in New York.

According to the poll, 77 percent of New York voters said that a terminally ill, mentally competent adult should be allowed to request a prescription for life-ending medication that they could choose to use to end their suffering in the final stages of dying. When respondents learned more about the bill, including arguments against aid in dying, support for access to the option increased to 81 percent, or to 4 out of 5 voters, Compassion & Choices reported.

The aid in dying bills in the state Senate and Assembly would allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults the option to request a prescription for life-ending medication that can be self-administered in order to reduce suffering at life’s end.

Lobbying in Albany to get aid-in-dying legislation enacted into law as it was in California, Compassion & Choices announced the expansion of its New York advocacy campaign with the hiring of veteran legislative campaigner, Corinne A. Carey, as its New York State Campaign Director.

To help local residents understand the issues, Assemblywoman Sandra Galef is has invited Carey to be part of a panel discussion on aid in dying legislation in New York, “Choosing Your Last Day: Death with Dignity Forum.”

In addition to Carey, the panelists are:

• Dr. Ira Bedzow, Director, Biomedical Ethics & Humanities, New York Medical College
• Bruce Darling, CEO, Disability Rights, Not Dead Yet
• Dr. Mildred Solomon, President & CEO, The Hastings Center

When: 7 – 9pm, Oct. 14

Where: Cortlandt Town Hall, 1 Heady Street, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567

LEARN MORE:

• There’s a lot of information at the Campaign to End Unwanted Medical Treatment website.
• The Compassion & Choices website has a page about New York State Advanced Planning Resources.
• The New York State Department of Health has state-specific end-of-life planning information available here.
• Download the state-approved health care proxy here.
• Also, New York State honors Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment; the forms and information are available here.

On Oct. 6, Compassion & Choices released a new video featuring Brittany Maynard to commemorate the first anniversary of the organization’s partnership with Maynard and her family.