VIGIL AGAINST SUICIDE BILL

New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide, supporters urge governor to veto bill

Opponents of New York State's proposed assisted suicide bill stood outside the Governor's Mansion on Wednesday, Dec. 3, for a candlelight vigil advocating for Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto the legislation. (Emily Benson photo)

On Eagle Street in Albany, stationed just outside the front gates of the Governor’s Mansion, a line of soft candlelight broke through the darkness.

Honks from cars, followed quickly by cheers and raised candles, rang out across the road as those driving by read the large sign held by the crowd. In large black and white font, it read “No Assisted Suicide.”

Over 60 people came out in the cold on Dec. 3 in Albany to petition against Bill S.138-Hoylman-Sigal/A.136-Paulin, which would allow terminally ill patients to request and use medication to “medically aid in dying” across New York State.

Albany’s gathering was one of four candlelight vigils held during the first week of December by the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide (NYAAAS) as a means to peacefully and respectfully urge Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto the assisted suicide bill.

Two vigils were held simultaneously on Dec. 3 — one in the Capital District and one in Western, N.Y., in Tonawanda — and on Dec. 4, in Syracuse and in Manhattan outside of Governor Hochul’s New York City office.

The bill passed both houses of the New York State Legislature earlier this year. Governor Hochul has yet to indicate her stance on the issue, and the bill has yet to be forwarded to her office for consideration. For opponents of the bill’s passage, it’s a sign that there is still time to fight.

Dennis Poust, executive director for the New York State Catholic Conference, said, “there is no more critical bill in New York this year — or really in my time at the conference — that has risen to this level.”

“This is not a Catholic effort,” he continued, “this is Catholic, Christian, Evangelical, secular. It doesn’t matter. We all realize that this is a bill that will lead to the vulnerable being targeted for death, and we can’t have it.”

Jason McGuire, executive director of New York Families Foundation, said that New Yorkers were starting to wake up to the weight of the bill.

“There’s a sleeping giant that’s waking up on this issue,” McGuire said. “As people come and get advocated, that’s got to get the governor involved because this is a bad bill.”

“I just know that once you open up the Pandora’s box of assisted suicide — the Pandora’s box of state-sanctioned suicide — there’s no going back,” he said. “Once you open that, it expands. And so we’ve got to stop this.”

Max Rodriguez, manager of Government Affairs for the Center for Disability Rights, said that passing this bill would tell New Yorkers “we’d rather see you dead than take care of you.”

“I think people are really waking up to this issue and becoming more passionate about it,” Rodriguez told The Evangelist. “It’s not an issue that people talk about every day, and that kind of makes it harder. I think a lot of people aren’t aware of what’s going on.”

But the turnout that night gave him hope. 

“It really meant a lot to see a diverse group of individuals get together and be so passionate about an issue that’s so important, and to think about others beyond themselves.”