We are Shaping the Future of Medical Aid in Dying

Live How You Like, Leave How You Like

Just like the weather (finally!), things in Albany are definitely heating up! We know we are making an impact because the opposition has stepped up their efforts as well. We know they do that when they are nervous. New York Families Action created and distributed to all lawmakers a misleading (actually a document full of lies) memorandum of opposition, shared here. As part of the New York Alliance for Medical Aid in Dying, we crafted a a 38-page response to each one of their statements. Thanks to Compassion and Choices for taking the lead on this very important documentation, we hand delivered a short version to every lawmaker and also emailed this longer version.

I wanted to share these documents with you as so many of you likely hear some of the same arguments from people in your own lives who don’t understand Medical Aid in Dying. Every argument in their opposition paper has been discussed before, and we have successfully been able to defend against each of them, but I thought it would be helpful for you if you hear the same arguments to be able to refer to this very thoughtful response from the Alliance.

As we have been asking you to write letters to your legislators, feel free to use one of these arguments to send another letter with your support.

Putting together the time and effort to guard against these attacks is incredibly important as we get closer to passing this bill. Thank you all for your support as we work together to provide a quality death for all New Yorkers.

Mandi Zucker, LSW
Executive Director

Recent Events & Updates

March Meet-n-Greet Scheduled

Meet-n-Greets are our way to get to know you, and to live our mission of normalizing conversations about death and dying. We encourage EVERYONE to attend one meet-n-greet and introduce yourself to us! We take one hour to share our work, get to know you, hear from people about why we advocate for medical aid in dying, and engage in a short activity that sparks conversation about end of life. It’s a free, inspiring way to get a little more involved with us.

Join us at the next meet-n-greet on March 19 at 12:00 PM. Registration is free but required. Register here.

EOLCNY’s Medical Aid in Dying Campaign Update

The medical aid in dying campaign has been busy building up the infrastructure to accomplish its goal. Our goal is to obtain the support of three more senators and we are targeting five of them in hopes of convincing at least three. We have hired a field organizer who has spent the last two weeks putting together a base of contacts among senior centers and houses of worship in each of the five districts we are targeting. At the same time, our media team has been building the materials and digital graphics that we will need in order to push district constituents to send personalized postcards to their senators. The final piece of the operation that has just been completed was to conduct public opinion polling in each of the five districts. Now that we have a favorability number that we can publicize, we are completing production on the communications pieces and our field organizer will begin circulating printed postcards once we acquire them from the printer. The polling numbers were all very strong. The specific districts we surveyed included District 11 (represented by State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky), District 16 (represented by State Senator John C. Liu), District 26 (represented by State Senator Andrew Gounardes), District 27 (represented by State Senator Brian Kavanagh), and District 63 (represented by State Senator April Baskin).

Overall, we found:

1. Widespread support (74%) for the Medical Aid in Dying Act across the 5 State Senate districts surveyed.
2. Voters would be more likely to support their individual State Senator in their next election if they were to vote in favor of the New York State Medical Aid in Dying Act.

We found there is strong support for the bill across districts with between 66% and 86% of Democratic voters saying they either strongly or somewhat supported the bill. Only between 8% and 25% indicated that they opposed the bill. Senator Gounardes’ district had the highest support with 86% responding favorably. The next highest support was in Senator Kavanagh’s district with 80% support. That was followed by Senator Stavisky’s district at 70%, Senator Liu at 67%, and Senator Baskin at 66%.

Upcoming Trainings

• Save the date! The Barbara Swartz Annual Lecture for 2025 is now scheduled for the evening of May 1st. We are excited to offer a virtual program this year featuring two exciting presenters, Thadeus Pope, JD, PhD, HEC-C, a law professor and bioethicist, and Carol Abolafia, the daughter of Barbara Goodfriend (the woman who was featured on the CBS News story several weeks ago). We are closer than ever to passing New York’s MAiD legislation and this would be a great opportunity for the public to have all their questions answered. Want to get a jump on registration? Click here and add it to your calendar!

If you can, please help us spread the word about this lecture! If you would be willing to engage your social media audience, put up flyers, make phone calls, or anything else to increase attendance, please reach out to our program director at aaron@eolcny.org.

Fundraiser in Bedford, NY on April 10th

Do you live near Bedford and would like an opportunity to come meet us in person and support our work? Board member Kristen Karlberg has generously offered to open her home to a Meet-n-Greet Fundraiser and we would love for you to be our guest. Come hear from our Executive Director, Mandi Zucker, and our Senior Consultant, David Leven, about the work we are doing and how your financial gifts support this work. The evening event is free to attend and we will ask for a donation before you leave. Reach out to Mandi if you would like an invitation. Click here for a Save the Date.

Ask Us Anything

Q: Is medical aid in dying the same as euthanasia?

A: No. Euthanasia, which is illegal in every state in this country, involves someone else intentionally ending someone’s life, typically to relieve suffering. While some people support this practice, and it is legal in other countries, in the United States medical aid in dying is only allowed when the person who is dying self administers the medication. This is a safeguard against coercion; meaning that it prevents someone from forcing a dying person to end their life earlier than they want because the only person that can administer the medication is the dying person themselves.

If you have a question you’d like answered, send it here!