Kathy Hochul Signs Dangerous Bill Legalizing Assisted Suicide
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a dangerous bill legalizing assisted suicide, a move pro-life advocates blasted as putting vulnerable residents at extreme risk of coercion, abandonment and premature death while undermining the sanctity of life.
The amended Medical Aid in Dying Act, signed Friday, theoretically only allows mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to request life-ending medication from physicians.
Religiously oriented home hospice providers can supposedly opt out while ensuring patients can kill themselves elsewhere, and violations are defined as professional misconduct under state education law.
The law takes effect in six months to allow for regulations and training.
Pro-life critics warned that the legislation, even with amendments, fails to adequately protect people with disabilities from being pressured into suicide instead of receiving care.
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Steve Aden, an attorney with Americans United for Life, told LifeNews he was saddened by the news but not surprised.
Americans United for Life unequivocally opposes Governor Hochul’s decision to approve legislation permitting assisted suicide. The so-called protections written into this statute are weak and unstable, and evidence from other jurisdictions shows that such safeguards are routinely eroded or eliminated over time. After legalization, proponents of assisted suicide predictably work to strip away limits they portray as burdensome rather than essential
This approach is not an expression of compassion. It threatens the future of palliative care and creates strong financial incentives for insurers to deny costly, life-sustaining treatment while promoting assisted suicide as a cheaper alternative. Such a system puts people who are sick, disabled, or elderly at serious risk. Illinois must act swiftly to defend a genuine understanding of dignity in dying, one that centers on care, support, and protection rather than abandonment.
Disability rights advocates argued the law does not do enough to protect them from being pressured into the procedure.
The Catholic Church and pro-life groups severely criticized the measure, with Republican lawmakers long opposing it amid fears it dismisses palliative and hospice care in favor of death.
Critics pointed to experiences in states like Colorado and Oregon, where assisted suicide laws have affected patients with disabilities, mental illnesses and non-terminal diseases, potentially leading doctors to offer death to those with mental health issues instead of support.
Hochul, who had pledged in December to sign the legislation with amendments, defended her decision as one made for all New Yorkers.
“I had to be very careful” not to allow her “own circumstances and life influences … to color my decision making when I’m making a decision not for myself but for 20 million New Yorkers,” Hochul said.
The Medical Society of the State of New York reversed its opposition in 2024, and groups like Compassion & Choices pushed for it.
The legislation had stalled for years amid fierce debate, with pro-life opponents arguing it opens the door to abuse and devalues human life, particularly for the disabled and mentally ill.
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