May 5, 2025
By Staff
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has taken New York State Assembly to task for passing what she calls a “disgusting assisted suicide bill.”
State lawmakers had debated the Medical Aid in Dying Act over multiple days this week, eventually passing the legislation that many have said is tied to passing the long overdue state budget.
In a statement issued earlier today, May 1, Stefanik called passing the legislation a “shameful act.”
“The New York Assembly’s decision to pass this disgusting assisted suicide bill is a shameful attack on the sanctity of life and a betrayal of our most vulnerable citizens,” she said.
She called the legislation a way to “normalize the termination of life under the guise of ‘compassion,’ putting the elderly, disabled and terminally ill at risk of coercion and despair.”
But advocates for the legislation have said on multiple occasions the passage of the bill would allow the terminally ill and those with chronic pain to end their lives on their own terms and with dignity.
That sentiment was not shared by Stefanik, however, as she said it undermines the “fundamental principle that all life is sacred, a value I have fought for in Congress.”
“Instead of investing in palliative care, mental health support and life-affirming resources for those facing terminal illness, this legislation offers an immoral shortcut that devalues human life,” Stefanik said.
She said she felt New Yorkers deserve “better than Far Left policies that erode our moral foundation and push families toward heartbreak.”
“I call on the State Senate to reject this dangerous bill and stand up for the voiceless,” she said.
The legislation would allow terminally ill adults with six months or less left to live to end their lives if they are deemed mentally competent, have witnesses and two doctors sign off.
A psychiatric evaluation would also be required.
When asked by a reporter about her stance on the legislation, Hochul said, “I never talk about what I’m going to do until I do it.”
Advocates, however, are praising what they are calling a “milestone.”
“Facing those and really thinking about giving power to people over that last chapter has been very difficult but I think at this point we’ve seen that enough lawmakers in Albany have engaged in the conversation,” Corinne Carey, senior campaign director for Compassion & Choices, said.
The bill now moves to the Senate for final approval, where it is widely expected to pass in the Democratic controlled chamber.
-Read the story in North Country Now HERE.
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