LEGAL ALERT: Medical Aid in Dying Bill Passes New York State Legislature, Pending Governor’s Review

By: Dana Walsh Sivak, Esq. and Taylor M. Reidy, Esq.

A groundbreaking new bill called the “Medical Aid in Dying Act” has just passed the New York State legislature, awaiting the review and potential signature of Governor Kathy Hochul. If signed into law, New York will join the growing list of jurisdictions that recognize a terminally ill adult’s right to request medication to bring about a peaceful death.   

Key Requirements and Eligibility Criteria

Modeled after similar statutes in states such as Oregon, Vermont, and New Jersey, the Medical Aid in Dying Act would permit New York residents, eighteen years of age or older, who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that is likely to result in death within six months, to obtain a prescription for life-ending medication. The law is laced with procedural safeguards: two separate physicians must confirm the diagnosis and prognosis; the patient must make two oral requests, at least fifteen days apart, as well as a written request witnessed by two adults, for the medication; and the patient must be capable of self-administering the medication. The patient must be of a sound mind and competent to make the decision at the time this medication is requested.  Importantly for seniors concerned about undue influence, the Act requires that neither of the two witnesses may be a relative, beneficiary, or owner of the facility where the patient resides, and there is a specific felony offense for anyone who exerts coercion over the patient. 

Estate Planning and Advance Care Considerations

For older adults, deciding whether to invoke the new statute will be inseparable from broader advance-care and estate planning. While a Health Care Proxy will still control routine medical decisions and end-of-life interventions, such as ventilation or artificial nutrition, the statutory form required to request aid-in-dying medication is separate, and must be executed while the patient retains decision-making capacity. Clients who may wish to preserve the option should speak with their doctors and healthcare agents as soon as that decision is made, because once capacity is lost, the request can no longer be initiated or completed. Conversely, clients who have moral, religious, or personal objections to medical aid in dying may want to incorporate explicit directives into their estate-planning documents to ensure that family members and providers understand their wishes, thereby forestalling potential misunderstandings or disputes. 

Impact on Healthcare Facilities and Providers

The Act also has practical repercussions for long-term care facilities, physicians, and insurers. Hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted-living residences may adopt written policies refusing to participate, but they must give advance notice so that residents can transfer to a different care facility if they wish. Individual clinicians retain an absolute right to opt out, and the statute shields them from civil or criminal liability when they lawfully comply or decline to assist a patient in procuring life-ending medication. Although the Act provides that life insurance benefits may not be denied, or reduced, solely because the insured died by self-administering medication under the Act, clients should still review existing policies to confirm that no exclusions are triggered.  

Benefits of the Medical Aid in Dying Act for New York Residents

While controversial to some, the goal of the Act is to relieve suffering for terminally ill New Yorkers, a concept that has gained more favor in mainstream society in recent years. The availability of physician assistance in achieving peace and comfort in one's final days is something advocates of medical aid in dying have fought to secure as an option for terminally ill residents in the state for years. In the past, as other states have made this available to terminally ill patients, some individuals went so far as to relocate to a state where this treatment is available to residents of the state – satisfying this non-negotiable criterion on the law, but disrupting the lives and relationships of terminally ill individuals and their families when patients felt they had no choice but to uproot themselves, and move away from loved ones, in order to establish residency and achieve what they believed would be a more peaceful and dignified death. Now, should the Governor sign this legislation into law, terminally ill residents of New York will be able to stay in their homes, with their loved ones, and have the option to make this decision if they so choose. 

Implications for Patient Care and End-of-Life Planning

The Medical Aid in Dying Act will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications for our elder law clients and their families, and may lead more residents facing terminal illness to consider different palliative care options that may now incorporate the potential for a medication-hastened death on their own terms. This law may also shift the conversation to consider how we can continue to improve the patient care experience, and find new ways to prioritize comfort, dignity, and choice, for patients at a time when so much else feels out of their control.   

How Can We Help?

Our Elder Law attorneys continue to monitor these important developments, and stand ready to guide families through these novel legal and ethical landscapes – whether that means navigating the application process, revising advance directives, or defending a loved one’s choice to accept or decline this new option, if made available through the passage of this law – so that each client’s end-of-life journey reflects personal values, respects legal safeguards, and preserves their dignity and autonomy. Please visit our blog for the latest updates on the New York State Medical Aid in Dying Act and contact us if you have any questions.