Hochul Archives

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced her intention to sign a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide into law. The Empire State will become the 13th state to legalize euthanasia, following Illinois, which became the 12th state just days earlier.

The New York Assembly approved the Medical Aid in Dying Act (AB 136) on April 29 in a 81-67 vote. The state Senate passed the bill on June 9 in a 35-27 vote.

The governor wrote in the Albany Times Union that state lawmakers will modify the bill to include a residency requirement, a five-day waiting period and a requirement that patients record their oral request to end their lives.

Gov. Hochul, a Catholic, unashamedly cited God’s “mercy” and “compassion” as part of her reasoning for signing the bill, writing,

I reflected on this during a Catholic funeral Mass for a family friend where the priest spoke of the welcome home to eternal life. I was taught that God is merciful and compassionate, and so must we be.

This includes permitting a merciful option to those facing the unimaginable and searching for comfort in their final months in this life.

The governor reflected upon her mother’s death from ALS, saying she “watched that vicious disease steal away the strong woman who raised me as it took her ability to walk, to eat, to speak and, ultimately, to live.”

“I have come to see [physician-assisted suicide] as a matter of individual choice,” the governor said.

Catholic Bishop John Barres, bishop of Rockville Centre, issued a statement calling Gov. Hochul’s reflections during the funeral Mass “profoundly misled.”

“Jesus calls us to help the suffering to carry their crosses with love,” the bishop urged, “not to participate in the willful taking of a life.”

The Catholic Church steadfastly opposes euthanasia. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

Euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.

This murderous act … must always be forbidden and excluded (CCC 2277).

The New York Catholic bishops released a joint statement following the governor’s announcement.

“We are extraordinarily troubled by Governor Hochul’s announcement that she will sign the egregious bill passed by the legislature earlier this year sanctioning physician-assisted suicide in New York State,” the bishops wrote.

“This new law signals our government’s abandonment of its most vulnerable citizens, telling people who are sick or disabled that suicide in their case is not only acceptable, but is encouraged by our elected leaders,” they added. “Tragically, this new law will seriously undermine all of the anti-suicide and mental health care investments Governor Hochul has made through her tenure.”

The New York Families Foundation, a Focus on the Family-allied state family policy council, explained that amending the bill doesn’t solve its central problems.

“Empathy, however sincere, cannot justify a public policy that abandons the state’s responsibility to protect vulnerable people and that fundamentally alters the role of medicine,” the organization stated. “Amendments cannot cure a law that is fundamentally flawed.”

Christians should keep these points in mind when discussing euthanasia:

Euthanasia always violates a person’s dignity, since it kills an innocent human being who is made in God’s image.
Physician-assisted suicide is not an “individual choice” since it always involves a physician killing another person – either actively or passively.
Euthanasia violates the Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm.”
Physician-assisted suicide is essentially never necessary to reduce a patient’s suffering thanks to great improvements in palliative care and hospice.
Many patients choose euthanasia due to depression or to avoid “being a burden to others”; suicide is never the answer to these problems.
Euthanasia can easily transform the so-called “right to die” into a “duty to die” to save the government and healthcare system money.

As physician-assisted suicide continues to expand throughout Western countries, and into more U.S. states, we must be even more resolute and fierce in opposing state-sanctioned death for the terminally ill.

As Jesus taught in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (ESV).

To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).

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Related articles and resources:

Counseling Consultation & Referrals

Mental Health Resources

Physician-Assisted Suicide

A Godly Perspective on End-of-Life Decisions

Understanding God’s Plan for the End of Life

Answers to Common Questions About Physician-Assisted Suicide

The Problem With Ending It All: A Response to Physician-Assisted Suicide

Aging Loved Ones and Physician-Assisted Suicide

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Signs ‘Dangerous’ Euthanasia Bill Into Law

NY Governor Kathy Hochul Seeks Changes to ‘Nightmare’ Assisted Suicide Bill

Photo from Getty Images.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is requesting substantial changes to a “nightmare” bill that would turn New York into a destination state for physician-assisted suicide.

The New York Assembly approved the Medical Aid in Dying Act (AB 136) on April 29 in a 81-67 vote. The state Senate subsequently passed the bill on June 9 in a 35-27 vote.

The bill permits individuals with “an incurable and irreversible illness, with six months or less to live,” to kill themselves with a doctor’s help via a lethal cocktail of drugs.

Importantly, the bill currently contains no residency requirement, allowing terminally ill individuals from out of state to come to New York to end their lives. This provision would essentially ensure all Americans could access physician-assisted suicide.

The New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide has raised several additional concerns about the legislation, warning the bill would:

Allow terminally ill persons to be prescribed lethal drugs without an in-person visit with a physician.
Make New York into an assisted suicide tourism state.
Not require any psychiatric assessment of a person requesting state-sanctioned suicide.
Open the door to future expansions of state-sanctioned deaths, which has occurred in Canada.

To date, Gov. Hochul has not publicly indicated whether she intends to sign the bill into law, only saying she will decide before the end of the year.

“I hear from a lot of people on [the issue of assisted suicide]; it is strong,” she said in September. “There are strong views on both sides of the spectrum, intense views on this, and I’m conscious of that, and it’s gonna be a very weighty decision on me between now and the end of the year.”

The governor has reportedly been seeking changes to the bill behind the scenes. According to North County Public Radio, the governor wants to:

Add a requirement people video their requests for physician-assisted suicide.
Create a seven-day waiting period for patients requesting physician-assisted suicide.
Require patients wanting to end their lives undergo a psychiatric assessment.
Include a residency requirement in the bill.

It’s unclear whether the governor intends to sign the bill if the state Legislature rejects her proposed changes. However, the fact the governor is requesting changes in the first place, rather than rejecting the bill wholesale, may indicate she is leaning towards signing it.

Bob Bellafiore, a spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference, said the governor’s proposed amendments are “basically deck chairs on the Titanic.”

“They don’t change the fundamental truth that this bill sanctions suicide, diminishes medicine forever and is guaranteed to lead to tragedies, mistakes and unintended consequences that the governor will be responsible for,” he added.

On December 3, hundreds of concerned New Yorkers gathered across Albany, Tonawanda, Syracuse and Manhattan – with 75 assembling outside the governor’s mansion – for candlelight vigils urging Gov. Hochul to veto the bill.

“New Yorkers are recognizing that assisted suicide isn’t compassion — it’s abandonment,” Jason McGuire, executive director of New York Families Action, told the crowd.

“Our vigil tonight shows that people from every background want the state to choose care, not killing. A sleeping giant is awakening on this issue.”

If you live in New York, please consider contacting the governor, respectfully urging her to veto AB 136. You can also sign the New York State Catholic Conference’s pre-filled message asking Gov. Hochul to veto the bill.