NYS Academy of Family Physicians & Healthcare ProvidersJoin Advocates & Legislative Champions to DemandPassage of the Medical Aid in Dying Act in 2024

Mar 5, 2024

Dr. Sonja Richmond speaking in front of New York Crowd

Two Physicians – Both Board-Certified in Hospice Care – Will Share First-Hand Experiences of Medical Aid in Dying in NJ and DC


Assembly Member Reyes: “We have a chance to provide compassion. It is long overdue. Now is the time.”


Dr. Paladine: “Let’s embrace this compassionate choice and provide terminally ill patients in our state with the dignity and control they deserve.”

New York State Academy of Family Physicians President Heather Paladine, MD, along with other New York healthcare providers and two physicians, board-certified in hospice care, who have first-hand experience in medical aid in dying cases in NJ and DC, traveled to Albany today to urge the Legislature to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act (A995A/S2445A) this session. 

They were joined by the bill’s prime sponsors, Assembly Health Committee Chairwoman Amy Paulin (D-Westchester) and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), two Assembly members who are nurses, Karines Reyes (D-Bronx) and Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-Brooklyn), and other legislative champions to discuss the bill’s safeguards and the comfort it would provide to terminally ill patients and their families.

Medical aid in dying allows a terminally ill, mentally capable adult with six months or less to live to request a prescription from their doctor for medication they can take when to die peacefully when their suffering becomes too great to bear. Ten states, including New Jersey, Vermont, and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C., have authorized medical aid in dying. A recent YouGov poll showed New Yorkers overwhelmingly support medical aid in dying, 72-23%, including strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents, as well as Black, white, Latino, and Asian voters, and voters from every region of the state.

Dr. Paladine said: “Medical aid in dying puts agency back into the hands of the individuals who are facing their final days. It respects their autonomy and empowers them to make deeply personal decisions about their own lives. This legislation grants terminally ill patients the right to choose when and how they want to end their suffering, surrounded by loved ones and with the support of their healthcare team. It is time to embrace this compassionate choice and provide terminally ill patients in our state with the dignity and control they deserve, that is already available to over 20% of the US population.”

Assemblymember Karines Reyes (Bronx), RN, in her nursing uniform

Assemblymember Karines Reyes (Bronx), RN, in her nursing uniform

Assembly Member Reyes said, “I'm very supportive of this cause because of my very intimate knowledge of death and dying. It is important that we have medical aid in dying as an end-of-life care option in our state. Whenever I have an opportunity, particularly in conference, to speak up about this issue, I do. And I always do it with my oncology nurse hat on, letting people know I have experienced this, I've been at the bedside of folks who didn't have this choice and would have liked this choice, and what ultimately, their last weeks, days, hours look like. We have a chance to provide compassion. It is long overdue. Now is the time.” 

Assembly Member Forrest said, “As a registered nurse who has heard the haunting moans of patients who were dying, I deeply believe that all New Yorkers deserve the power to direct their own health care decisions throughout their adult lives - including when death is imminent. Studies have shown that few people use medical aid in dying medication, however, countless others gain peace of mind knowing there is a way to avoid needless suffering at the end. If I can help end suffering for patients who are dying – help their final words to be ‘I love you’ to a spouse or family member, rather than a penetrating moan – then I have done the right thing, and I have done a good thing.”

Deborah Pasik, MD, said, “As a New Jersey physician, I have written dozens of prescriptions for medical aid in dying. I can confidently say that 100% of these patients sought out my care after a careful and thoughtful decision-making process that involved family and loved ones. Almost all were in hospice and very satisfied with their care. These patients were committed to living out their lives as long as possible and then having the option of a peaceful humane death of their choosing if they deemed that their suffering had become intolerable. 

“Many expressed their gratitude towards me by thanking me for saving their lives. That’s the most profound thing a terminally ill patient can say. What they’re saying is that I’ve lifted this burden of anxiety and fear from their shoulders, so they can move on with their life – as long or short as it is – without this lingering terror of what the future holds. Easing suffering is exactly what doctors are supposed to do,” Dr. Pasik said.

Sonja Richmond, MD, Washington, D.C., said, “As a hospice medical director at VITAS Healthcare, I have had the opportunity to evaluate patients requesting medical aid in dying. Sometimes, misinformation about the medical aid-in-dying process has led to unsubstantiated fears. With more than two decades of experience and data there is no need to speculate. Medical aid in dying is a well-defined clinical practice with standards of care and appropriate safeguards. 

“Most patients who request medical aid in dying are already enrolled in hospice. In some situations, there may be some suffering we simply can’t alleviate. In other situations, patients choose medical aid in dying as an expression of their values and reject prolonging death. Medical aid in dying is a compassionate option for patients who have full decision-making capacity and are on a trajectory toward a certain death such as from late-stage cancer, heart disease or neurodegenerative disorders,” Dr. Richmond said.

David Pratt, MD, Saratoga County, former Schenectady County Commissioner of Public Health Services, said, “I had a patient who suffered so much at the end of his life that he took his own life with a museum-quality Remington shotgun. As a physician, I would have loved to give my patients the gift of peace at the end of their lives. Nobody should ever have to end their lives violently to ease their suffering. Now my goal is for New York to make medical aid in dying an open, accessible, and legitimate option for terminally ill New Yorkers who want that option to relieve their suffering.”

Assemblymember Paulin, chief Assembly sponsor since the bill was first introduced, said: “In the many years of fighting for a Medical Aid in Dying bill, support has continued to grow among New Yorkers for this compassionate end-of-life option. People have realized that this is a common-sense piece of legislation which preserves the autonomy and dignity of dying New Yorkers during the most vulnerable stage of their lives. I think this realization is at the core of why more of my colleagues in Albany are becoming sponsors of the bill, and why the most recent polling shows it has across-the-board support from New Yorkers.”

Senator Hoylman-Sigal, said: “Passing the Medical Aid in Dying Act will not change the equation for people who wouldn’t choose this option. But it will allow people who want this compassionate option to die on their own terms, peacefully and free from suffering. All New Yorkers should be able to choose their own path during their lives and especially at the end of their lives. My Senate colleagues know this is the right thing to do and I think they know this is the year to get it done.”

Hoylman-Sigal and Paulin recently co-authored a column featured on the Empire Report.

Corinne Carey, senior New York campaign director for Compassion & Choices, said: “Medical aid in dying laws are working as intended in 10 states plus Washington, D.C. and none of the harms opponents have warned will come to pass have actually done so. Legislators should be listening to doctors who provide this compassionate care, and to the experiences of an increasing number of New Yorkers whose loved ones have gained access to this option in other states. If they are listening, the Medical Aid in Dying Act will soon be the law in New York.”

The Medical Aid in Dying Act is supported by more than 45 civic organizations  representing diverse groups across the state, including:

  • 1 in 9 LI Breast Cancer Action Coalition 
  • ACT UP NY
  • Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester
  • Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
  • Harlem United
  • Indivisible Westchester
  • Latino Commission on AIDS
  • Latinos for Healthcare Equity
  • League of Women Voters of NYS
  • New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
  • NYS Academy of Family Physicians
  • NYS Public Health Association 
  • New York State Bar Association
  • NOW-NY
  • Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts
  • SAGE NY (Services for LGBT elders)
  • StateWide Senior Action Council
  • Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion
  • WESPAC Foundation 

Geri Barish, President, 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition, said: “As a cancer survivor, a lifelong advocate for cancer patients, and after the loss of my son and mother to cancer, I am all too familiar with the pain and suffering that comes with a terminal diagnosis. Often when all treatment options are exhausted, patients are left with no options for a peaceful death. Having the option of medical aid in dying is not giving up on life, but allowing us to make our own choice when the time comes. I urge legislators to help suffering New Yorkers and pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act this year.”

More information on medical aid in dying and the New York campaign can be found on Compassion & Choices’ website, Facebook or Twitter.