A bill to allow doctor assisted suicide has been introduced in the New York legislature. The bill would allow terminally ill patients to end their lives on their own terms as long as they have the consent of two doctor’s that sign off on the fact the disease is terminal in addition to two witnesses for when the patient signs the documentation authorizing the suicide. If the law is passed, New York would join a small but growing number of states, most recently California, that would allow terminal patients to have a measure of control restored to them that a disease has taken away. Advocated argue that confirming this human right would grant relief to those that are suffering and prevent them from having to leave their home to travel to a place that will not maliciously prosecute those that helped them achieve their aim. But critics have been quick to counter that laws such as these could create pressure by families to end a life prematurely simply to avoid the financial burden of continued care let alone the religious implications for some. In any case, the New York legislation does not appear to be on the fast track to passage, as even the bill’s sponsors admit, with doubts about it’s ability to receive a floor vote this year let alone be signed into law.
See David Klepper, Advocates for assisted suicide push for law, WCAX, January 12, 2016.
