"Netherland, a 58-year-old from the South Bronx, has terminal cancer. She asked the governor to sign a bill known as the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would authorize physician-assisted death for patients with an incurable diagnosis and less than six months to live. "I want the choice of a peaceful death at home with my partner by my side," Netherland wrote. "Cancer treatment is rough, but my death does not have to be one marked by suffering.""
"Hochul's office has received thousands of letters, emails, cards and calls much like the one from Netherland in recent months. They urge her to sign, or veto, the bill that would make New York the 12th state to authorize physician-assisted death in some form. The correspondence, some of which was shared with Gothamist, reveals in stark terms the existential issues of life, death, morality and personal pain facing Hochul as she weighs whether to sign the legislation."
"But nobody seems to have an inkling of which way Hochul is leaning and the governor herself isn't tipping her hand. "I hear from a lot of people on that issue," Hochul told reporters recently. "There are strong views on both sides of the spectrum - intense views on this. And I'm conscious of that, and it's going to be a very weighty decision on me.""
Terminally ill New Yorkers and their families have urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would permit physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to patients with incurable diagnoses who have less than six months to live. Thousands of letters, emails, cards and calls present legal arguments, moral pleas and personal narratives of pain and suffering. Supporters emphasize the desire for a peaceful death at home with loved ones present, while opponents highlight ethical and regulatory risks. Hochul has said she is conscious of intense views on both sides and called the decision weighty.
Read at Gothamist
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