The New York Medical Aid in Dying Act is in effect as of August 5, 2026, expanding end-of-life options for terminally ill New Yorkers and affirming their right to make informed, compassionate decisions at the end of life. This landmark achievement is the result of more than a decade of advocacy led by Compassion & Choices, alongside allied organizations and hundreds of New Yorkers who shared their stories, raised their voices, and urged lawmakers to act.
The New York State Department of Health released proposed regulations on June 3, 2026, providing guidance on how the law will be administered and establishing procedures for providers and healthcare organizations. Additionally, on July 27, 2026, the Department of Health published further guidance to their website, geared toward patients, families, and caregivers. For official information, visit the New York State Department of Health’s Medical Aid in Dying webpage.
You can see information about the regulations and the forthcoming guidance by visiting the Department’s website by clicking this link.
Send a note of gratitude of your own to your elected officials, Assemblymember Paulin, Senator Hoylman-Sigal, and Governor Kathy Hochul.
Medical aid in dying is for people who are already dying. It is a lawful medical option for qualified adults with a terminal illness, a prognosis of six months or less to live, who can make their own healthcare decisions and have the ability to take the medication themselves.
Medical aid in dying is not suicide or euthanasia. Compassion & Choices supports people seeking information about lawful end-of-life care options in the United States. We do not provide instructions or guidance for ending your life outside supportive medical care.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, in crisis, or thinking about suicide, help is available right now. You are not alone, and your pain deserves care. Call 988, text 988, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at https://988lifeline.org/chat/
Compassion Legal and WilmerHale file motion on behalf of New Yorkers whose end-of-life options could be directly affected by lawsuit seeking to block the law from taking effect Compassion Legal: The End-of-Life Justice Center at Compassion & Choices, along with pro bono counsel WilmerHale, today filed a motion to intervene in Brooklyn Center for Independence…
Compassion Legal: The End-of-Life Justice Center at Compassion & Choices, spoke out forcefully Thursday after a group of plaintiffs — led by the anti-medical-aid-in-dying group Institute for Patients’ Rights — sued Gov. Kathy Hochul’s and Gov. JB Pritzker’s administrations in an effort to block implementation of the medical aid-in-dying laws in New York and Illinois. …
Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement today, that she intends to sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act (A.136/S.138) – subject to chapter amendments – next month, will make New York the 14th U.S. jurisdiction to authorize this compassionate end-of-life option.
I am so glad that terminally ill people in Illinois will now have the option of medical aid in dying thanks to Governor Pritzker and the Illinois legislature doing the right thing for the people of their state.
As part of the event, 2,500 candles were placed throughout Chase Park to symbolize the number of New Yorkers who die of cancer each month.
When Annie lost her husband of 25 years to ALS in 2020, she couldn’t have imagined she’d soon face the same diagnosis. Now, her journey has ignited a powerful commitment—to embrace her new reality with purpose and joy and to fight for Medical Aid in Dying for all New Yorkers.
Stacey Gibson of Garrison, in New York’s Hudson Valley, joined the end-of-life options movement in 2015 after her husband, Sid, died a horrible death after he stopped eating and drinking in the final stages of a debilitating progressive neurological disease. Among the vanguard of New York’s volunteers for the entire decade-long legislative campaign, Stacey shared…
La Gobernadora Hochul tiene la oportunidad de hacer lo correcto considerando los méritos obtenidos que también coinciden con la postura de la mayoría de los votantes neoyorquinos. Hay que Ganar, Ganar
“Gov. Hochul has the opportunity to do the right thing on the merits, which also happens to be the position of the majority of New York voters. Win, win.”
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