The New York Senate adopts the bill to legalize medical assisted suicide

The Catholic conference, which led the hall against the bill, published a statement on Monday evening, saying:

“It’s a dark day for New York State. For the first time in its history, New York is about to allow doctors to help their patients commit suicide. Do not go wrong – this is only the start, and the only person standing between New York and the suicide assisted in Canada is Governor Hochul.

The governor said that she would examine the legislation when she arrives at her office. We expect her to do so, she will conclude what 27 of her democratic colleagues in the Legislative Assembly – that this bill would be catastrophic for medically unprecedented communities, including colored communities, as well as for disabled and other vulnerable populations who will be the mercy of a health industry which will soon be underestimated from Federal Medicaid.

Governor Hochul acted with daring to combat the suicide crisis in our state and has made access to mental health care as a characteristic of his mandate as governor, with historical investments in the past two years. This bill undermines these priorities. The legislation adopted in the Senate and the Assembly does not contain any requirement for psychological screening for depression or another mental illness, and not even as long as a brief period of waiting for people who could be desperate following a terminal diagnosis.

We are fully expecting the governor to also intend the concerns of the handicap community, which has expressed a serious fear that they were forced to assisted suicide due to the loss of independence or body function.

We reject the false notion that suicide is always a solution. Instead, we call on New York State to extend palliative care and palliative care, mental health services and support for family caregivers. We are impatient to continue working with the governor on these priorities following his veto of this disastrous bill. »»