A ‘DANGEROUS LAW’

Assisted suicide advocates admit they’ll push for expansion if bill is signed by Governor Hochul

Although Gov. Kathy Hochul has given no indication yet whether she will sign into law the physician-assisted suicide legislation that has passed in both the New York State Senate and Assembly, advocates are already brazenly calling for its expansion.

“The physician-assisted suicide lobby finally said the quiet part out loud — admitting they will immediately push for expansions of any law Governor Hochul might consider signing,” said Robert Bellafiore, a spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference on Dec. 12. “In a new blog post, End of Life Choices Executive Director Mandi Zucker writes: ‘We will also continue to advocate for changes to the law once enacted that will make the option of medical aid in dying more accessible to everyone.’

“It’s clear they really don’t care what changes Governor Hochul wants — they have every intention of expanding this dangerous law by any means possible. Not only is this bad faith, but it’s utterly disrespectful and insulting to the governor. She now knows, as we’ve always known, that the assisted suicide lobby cannot be trusted.”

The assisted suicide bill is one of just two bills that have not been delivered to Hochul’s desk. If she doesn’t see the bill by Dec. 20, she then would have 30 days to act on it instead of 10 days. If she were to take no action on the bill it would be considered a “pocket veto,” which would allow her to veto the bill. 

If Hochul signs the bill into law, New York would be the 13th state, along with the District of Columbia, to legalize assisted suicide, as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed SB 1950 into law on Dec. 12, allowing terminally ill adults who are Illinois residents to end their lives through self-administered lethal drugs prescribed by a physician. The signing came amid outcry among that state’s Catholic bishops and other pro-life and disability advocates.

Terminal illness is defined in the Illinois law — which takes effect in September 2026 — as “an incurable and irreversible disease that will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within 6 months.” Major depressive disorder alone “does not qualify” as a terminal disease, the law states.

The New York State Catholic Conference has been at the forefront of this battle for years and recently was part 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 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 Hochul’s New York City office.

In states that already allow assisted suicide, Bellafiore added that lobby is always pushing for an expansion. 

“The assisted suicide lobby has already sued in four states to overturn residency requirements. In California their legislative champion is pushing to expand assisted suicide to dementia patients. In other states they’ve worked to water down waiting periods,” Bellafiore said. 

“Governor Hochul clearly has doubts about sanctioning suicide for sick individuals. She knows doctors make mistakes all the time and that her administration considers suicide a serious mental health problem. And now she knows from the advocates’ own mouths that expansion is high on their to-do list. The only way to prevent the ongoing expansion of a suicide mentality is to veto this bill because once the assisted suicide door is opened, it only opens wider.”

There is also still time to make your voices heard and tell Hochul to veto this bill by heading to https://www.nyscatholic.

org.

“Our hope and our prayer is that the fact that she has not yet asked for the bill means it is weighing very seriously on her,” said Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference. “We implore the governor to consider all of the unintended — and intended, for that matter — consequences of this bill and veto it. The bill was passed in both houses without a single public hearing. No measure of this profound significance should be decided in this way.”