No, It’s Not a Done Deal: The Assisted Suicide Fight Has Shifted Back To Albany

A dangerous misconception has taken hold across New York: that the battle over assisted suicide is over. It’s not. In reality, the fight has entered its most decisive stage - and the power to stop it now rests with the State Legislature.

Although the Medical Aid in Dying Act passed both houses last June, Governor Kathy Hochul has not yet signed it into law. According to askanim who recently met with senior members of her administration, three options remain on the table: a veto, signing the bill as written, or signing it alongside so-called “chapter amendments.” It is this third path that poses the greatest danger.

At a meeting last week in Albany, representatives from the Governor’s office — including Patrick Kwan of Legislative Affairs and Eva Wyner, Director of Jewish Affairs — met with Rabbi Nosson Leiter of Help Rescue Our Children and Yonasan Teleky. According to the askanim, the administration offered no clarity regarding the Governor’s intentions. Teleky later described the officials’ posture as “non-committal and non-inquiring,” deepening concern that the most deceptive procedural option remains in play.

Those concerns became concrete with the introduction of a new bill: Assembly Bill A9515 and its Senate counterpart S8835. These bills do not repeal assisted suicide. Instead, they advance a package of chapter amendments to the original law, with votes expected as early as next week. Under Albany procedure, such amendments can be passed independently, allowing the assisted suicide law to take effect while lawmakers promise to “fix” it later.

Veteran advocates warn that this maneuver is profoundly dangerous. Chapter amendments often lag behind the law they claim to correct, and even when enacted, they can be weakened or quietly removed in future sessions. As Rabbi Leiter has emphasized, the very need for amendments is itself an admission that the original law is deeply flawed. No procedural adjustment can undo the core harm of legalizing state-sanctioned suicide.

The proposed amendments are being promoted as safeguards. They would limit eligibility to New York residents, require psychiatric or psychological evaluations, mandate in-person physician examinations with limited telehealth exceptions, impose a short waiting period, and require recorded requests. But these changes do not protect those who truly want to live. Once lethal drugs are approved and dispensed, there is no way to retrieve them - even if coercion, depression, or mental decline becomes evident. Family members and long-term treating physicians can still be overridden by one-time evaluators, and economic incentives remain unchanged: death is cheaper than care.

Despite the danger, momentum is not lost. Two vocal proponents of the bill have recently lost their seats, narrowing the margin significantly. Organizers believe that if legislators vote on the amendments as they did on the original bill, flipping just one state senator and three assembly members could halt the process. Many lawmakers are wary of being remembered as the single deciding vote that ushered assisted suicide into New York law.

This is why the call to action has changed. The pressure must now be directed at legislators - not the Governor - urging them to vote against any amendment or procedural step that advances assisted suicide in any form. A crucial vote is expected within days.

The Torah obligation is unmistakable: lo ta’amod al dam re’echa - do not stand idly by while your fellow’s blood is shed. This is not rhetoric. It is halachah.

This is not a done deal. But time is short.

If such a measure were to pass, who among us could honestly say, yadeinu lo shafchu et hadam hazeh?

What You Must Do Now: Contact Your State Legislators

Residents of Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Fresh Meadows, Jamaica Estates, Hollis Hills, and Holliswood are urged to contact their New York State Senators and Assembly Members immediately and demand a NO vote on any Chapter Amendments, including A9515 / S8835, or any procedural move that advances Assisted Suicide in any form.

New York State Senate – Local Districts

Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.

Represents Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, and surrounding areas

District Office: 718-738-1111

Albany Office: 518-455-2322