New Yorkers struggling with mental health crises are told to call 988, the suicide-prevention hotline. But on February 6, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act into law, authorizing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients. The message is stark: some lives must be saved, others may be ended. Physician-assisted …
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New Yorkers struggling with mental health crises are told to call 988, the suicide-prevention hotline. But on February 6, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act into law, authorizing doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients. The message is stark: some lives must be saved, others may be ended.
Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), known euphemistically to advocates as Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) or “Death with Dignity,” describes a practice where patients self-administer a lethal dose of drugs under the direction of a physician. The practice is legal in thirteen states and Washington, D.C.
