Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the Medical Aid in Dying legislation into law, drawing praise from the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) for including significant negotiated changes. The new law introduces additional restrictions and requirements regarding when patients can request medical aid in dying and under what circumstances such requests may be honored.
A statement from MSSNY reads: “Governor Hochul is to be praised for signing into law the Medical Aid in Dying legislation, which encompasses significant negotiated changes. These include placing further restrictions and requirements around the circumstances for when this extraordinary measure can be requested by a patient—and subsequently have that request be honored. We also praise Assemblymember Paulin and Senator Hoylman-Sigal for their continued efforts to work through the many legitimate questions that have been raised surrounding this profound change in the law.”
The society noted that its support aligns with policy adopted at its 2024 House of Delegates meeting and reaffirmed earlier this year. The policy backs such legislation provided physicians are allowed to choose whether or not to participate: “This legislation is consistent with policy adopted by the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) at its 2024 House of Delegates meeting, and subsequently re-affirmed at its annual meeting earlier this year. That policy supports legislation such as this if physicians can ‘retain their choice to opt-in or decline to engage in the processes and procedures as outlined in any proposed medical aid in dying legislation.’”
MSSNY acknowledged varying opinions among physicians on this issue: “This position statement reflects a majority of the 300 physicians who are delegates to MSSNY, but we recognize and respect that this support is not uniform among physicians. Physicians across New York State have diverse and legitimate perspectives on this issue shaped by a variety of personal, societal, social, professional, and religious factors. Physicians are trained to heal. Given these diverse perspectives, we appreciate that the negotiated chapter amendments will provide important guardrails to better ensure the patient would be making this choice of their own volition with medical professional input, as well as ensuring that a patient’s physician and other care providers do not have any duty to assist the patient in this request if they disagree for any reason with the patient’s decision. Our hope is that this is new right will be used only in the most dire of circumstances.”
With a six-month implementation period set for the new law, MSSNY plans collaboration with state officials: “With a 6-month implementation window, MSSNY intends to work closely with the Governor’s office and New York State Department of Health to ensure that physicians across the state—and their patients—are familiar with the logistics of this significant new law and that its implementation allows those with cultural and religious objections to opt-out.”
Founded in 1807, MSSNY represents physicians, residents, and medical students across all specialties throughout New York.
