Please write to the Governor one more time, and implore her to veto this deplorable bill.
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The Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) bill has passed the New York State Legislature and only awaits Governor Hochul's signature to become law. We shall learn her decision in the next several days, but since we don't know it yet, we must assume she is still making up her mind. As yet, she has given no clear indication of her intentions. We must make our voices heard in opposition one more time.
STIC strongly opposes this legislation, justified as follows. While intended to offer compassionate options to individuals facing terminal illness, this legislation presents substantial and well-documented risks to people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations and lacks sufficient safeguards to prevent misuse and harm. Legal assisted suicide reinforces the notion that some lives, particularly those that include challenges brought about by the presence of one or more disabilities, are less worthy of continuing. This notion inevitably leads to systemic abuse, and people with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable.
The availability of legal assisted suicide incentivizes medical corporations and insurance companies to deny or discourage life-sustaining treatment when they can instead offer a cheap and easy “death cocktail” to patients with chronic, difficult-to-treat conditions. While the premise behind assisted suicide is one of mercy, only intended for the gravest of cases, we observe that everywhere it has been legally sanctioned to date has seen rapid expansion of the practice, making MAID accessible in far more ethically murky circumstances than anticipated by its supporters.
MAID is the wrong solution to a legitimate systemic problem – the ongoing lack of accessible, adequate mental health services, particularly for people with disabilities and others who already face barriers to care. In this context, legalizing assisted suicide without first addressing the state’s mental health and long-term service gaps substitutes death for the support people cannot obtain.
STIC asks you to email Governor Hochul, even if you have done so before on this issue, and remind her she must veto this well-intentioned but profoundly misguided bill. We will provide sample language for you to use and/or adapt and add to as you see fit. Personal stories are always helpful, but perhaps especially so in this instance, as we all face the demise of loved ones throughout the course of life.
As always, we are deeply thankful for your advocacy.