NY state Senate approves doctor-assisted suicide bill, sends it to Hochuls desk for approval

ALBANY – State Senate Democrats passed highly controversial legislation that would allow terminally ill people to take their own lives with the help of doctors in a razor-thin vote Monday — leaving it up to Gov.Kathy Hochul whether to sign it into law.“This is one of the great social reforms of our state,” state Sen.

Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), the bill’s sponsor in the upper chamber, touted at a press conference earlier in the day Monday — putting the measure on the same tier as the legalization of gay marriage.“This is about personal autonomy, this is about liberty, this is about exercising one’s own freedom to control one’s body,” Hoylman-Sigal continued.The measure passed 35 to 27, with six Democrats – Senators April Baskin, Siela Bynoe, Cordelle Cleare, Monica Martinez, Roxanne Persaud, and Sam Sutton – voting against it. “The governor will review the legislation,” a spokesperson for Hochul said.The bill’s passage follows a years-long campaign that was fought tooth and nail by a diverse group of critics, including disability rights activists and the Catholic church, as well as many black and Orthodox Jewish communities.“The Governor still has the opportunity to uphold New York’s commitment to suicide prevention, protect vulnerable communities, and affirm that every life—regardless of disability, age, or diagnosis—is worthy of care, dignity, and protection,” The New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide wrote in a statement following the vote.A Catholic group slammed the bill’s passing as “a dark day for New York” and also called on Hochul to refuse to sign it.“For the first time in its history, New York is on the verge of authorizing doctors to help their patients commit suicide.Make no mistake – this is only the beginning, and the only person standing between New York and the assisted suicide nightmare unfolding in Canada is Governor Hochul,” Dennis Poust, Executive Director of the New York State ...